8 September
Hochschild Mining has reported that the overall revised attributable production target for 2020 is 280,000-290,000 gold equivalent ounces or 24.0-25.0 million silver equivalent ounces. This reduction is primarily due to the operational stoppages due to Covid-19 lockdowns and also reflects temporary delays in mine sequencing. The revised guidance for this year comes after the company completed an assessment of the overall impact from the stoppages and the resulting revised mine plans that also reflect ongoing restrictions related to the pandemic.
Russia-based gold producer Polyus has reported a 63% year-on-year increase in second-quarter net profit to $684m due to a 31% rise in gold prices. The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) during the quarter stood at $860m, up 42% year-on-year, while revenue rose 29% to $1.2bn. During this period, it could maintain uninterrupted operations at all assets, despite a Covid-19 outbreak at its Olimpiada mine in Russia that was contained.
Tanzania-based graphite developer Black Rock Mining has announced that its strategic alliance and development partner POSCO is making meaningful progress on various due diligence activities at the Mahenge Graphite Project. Black Rock managing director and CEO John de Vries said that the revised due diligence schedule will accommodate for the impact from ongoing Covid-19 related restrictions and further allow POSCO to complete its remaining work under a sensible timeframe. Travel restrictions and logistics constraints due to the pandemic have impacted the ability for POSCO to achieve timely site access and sample logistics. Because of this, Black Rock has agreed with the company on a sensible revised timeframe for the completion of due diligence work.