Record production from the Prestea open-pit gold mine in Ghana, and significantly better gold prices, let
In the three months ended March 31, Golden Star took in US$15.1 million in revenues and earned US$4.3 million, or US4.5 per share. In the first quarter of 2002, the company posted a profit of US$1.5 million on US$9.3 million in revenue.
Golden Star realized US$354 per oz. for gold during the period, up from US$290 a year before, and cash operating costs per ounce declined slightly to US$170, from US$179 in the first quarter of last year.
The Plant-North pit at the Prestea mine was Golden Star’s only producing operation in the quarter, and yielded a head grade of 3.3 grams gold per tonne. This was substantially better than the operation’s average head grade of 2.9 grams in the first quarter of 2002. Golden Star also found that the ore zone being mined was larger than had been estimated in the reserve model, with the result that slightly more ore was put through the mill.
The better grades and greater throughput compensated for a significant shortfall in mill recovery; the plant averaged 74.4%, against a model target of 80.9%. Ores from the Prestea deposit’s transitional (mixed oxide and sulphide) zone were the plant’s problem, and a program of metallurgical testing is under way to improve the recovery through changes to the mining schedule and possibly the mill process.
Golden Star continues to amass exploration data on deeper mineralization at Prestea, and further drilling is planned for the second quarter. The company is still evaluating the potential of the Prestea deposit for underground mining.
Drilling and resource estimation on the Wassa gold deposit, 150 km west of Accra, are now complete, and a feasibility study is scheduled for mid-year. If the feasibility study is positive, the company intends to build a 120,000-oz.-per-year gold mine.
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