Ramelius overcomes hurdle to reach production target

The Edna May SAG (semi-autogenous grinding) mill motor drive bearing failed last month, with its replacement overheating and causing the mill motor to be faulty.

Ramelius immediately replaced and commissioned it within four days, with the site suffering more than seven days of unplanned downtime.

“Due to Ramelius’ inventory management policy on critical spares, a replacement motor was immediately available with installation and commissioning taking four days to complete,” Ramelius stated.

“Notwithstanding this, the company was able to deliver into the guidance range for the March 2021 quarter.”

Ramelius produced 66,029 ounces of gold in the March quarter, off the back of a 65,000-to-70,000-ounce guidance.

This included 24,197 ounces at the Edna May mine and 41,832 ounces at the Mt Magnet gold mine in Western Australia.

Ramelius also increased its cash and gold on hand to $230.6 million in the March quarter, compared with $221.5 million in the December quarter.

The Edna May gold mine was acquired from Evolution Mining in October 2017.

Its deposit has produced more than one million ounces of gold, with annual production since 2011 ranging from 66,000 ounces to 99,000 ounces.

Ramelius’ forward sales book for the March quarter includes 209,250 ounces of gold at an average price of $2310 per ounce.

The Mt Magnet gold mine features multiple open pit and underground mines and exploration targets covering 225 square kilometres.

Further details about Ramelius’ quarterly production will be released in its quarterly report later this month.