Sigma boosts annual output by 1,500 oz. as efforts continue to

Gold production at Placer Dome’s Sigma mine at Val d’Or, Que., is expected to be about 67,600 oz. in 1990, down slightly more than 1,500 oz. from 1989 production. Last year, the mine’s mill underwent a modernization that included a conversion from 25 cycle to 60 cycle and the construction of new ball and rod mills. Recoveries of gold from the old mill during this “down period” resulted in the higher-than-predicted 1989 gold production, mine general manager Andre Carrier told The Northern Miner. Total mill capacity was increased by some 10% by the modernization program, he said. Last year the Sigma mine ranked ninth in terms of its contribution among other company gold mines to Placer Dome’s earnings and it is expected to maintain that ranking this year. Cash production costs are currently at US$392 per oz. of gold and are expected to finish the year lower, at about US$389. The 1989 cash production costs per oz were US$372 but a comparison of year- to-year conversion rates, from Canadian dollar costs to US dollar costs, shows that actual cash production costs are about the same for the two years, Carrier said.

In order to further increase productivity and reduce costs, a number of measures have been put in place at Sigma, including an attrition program that has seen the number of employees drop from 421 at year-end 1989 to the current 415, with Carrier predicting that total employment will be at 400 by the end of 1991. Other cost-saving measures involve a mine-wide austerity program and a reduction of overtime to the minimum required.