Lower production from the Bonte alluvial gold mine in Ghana will cut third-quarter revenues and earnings for Akrokeri-Ashanti Gold Mines (YAG-V), and the company is warning that year-end production, revenue, and earnings figures will be affected.
Third-quarter production from Bonte, targeted at 19,000 oz., was only 15,926 oz. owing to recovery problems. High-grade alluvial zones mined in the period proved to have much finer gold grains than expected, and the main sluice recovery system did not trap them. Faced with the recovery problems, Akrokeri moved the mining over to lower-grade terrace zones where the gold was coarser.
The gravity systems commonly used in alluvial mining frequently cannot recover finer material.
Akrokeri leased a number of small Knelson gravity concentrators to supplement recoveries from the sluice system. Installation of larger permanent concentrators is slated for December.
Akrokeri says revenues were US$819,000 lower than expected, and it will post a loss for the quarter. It does not expect trouble paying its bills, but has put a Peruvian exploration project on hold to preserve cash.
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