- St Barbara (SBM) reports lower group production of 63,700 ounces of gold over the September quarter compared to 67,000 ounces over the same time last year
- The gold miner attributes the decrease to its Leonora operation in WA performing lower than expected on the back of equipment availability issues
- To reduce near-term capital expenditure, St Barbara is deferring the planned expansion of its Leonora processing plant by at least 12 months
- St Barbara subsequently downgrades its FY23 production guidance to between 260,000 and 290,000 ounces of gold from its previous guidance of 280,000 to 315,000 ounces
- SBM shares are down 20.9 per cent on the back of today’s news to trade at 53 cents at 2:59 pm AEDT
St Barbara’s (SBM) shares have dipped nearly 20 per cent after the company flagged soft production numbers in its September quarterly report.
The gold miner started the 2023 financial year off reporting group gold production of 63,700 ounces — down from the 86,403 ounces produced in the June quarter and from the 67,000 ounces produced in the September quarter last year.
St Barbara owns and operates the Atlantic operation in Canada, Simberi in Papua New Guinea, and the Leonora operation in Western Australia.
The company said that while its Simberi and Atlantic operations performed in line with expectations, the Gwalia mine within the Leonora operation was impacted by lower equipment availability and utilisation.
Now, to reduce the impact of contractors and equipment availability issues in the current quarter, St Barbara decided to defer the expansion of the Leonora processing plant by at least 12 months.
As a result, the company will defer the costs required to expand the processing plant, upgrade the refractory ore circuit and construct the Aphrodite mine.
To reflect the changes in capital expenditure and the slower rate of improvement in equipment availability and utilisation, St Barbara has downgraded its production guidance for FY23.
Last month, it told investors it expected to produce between 280,000 and 315,000 ounces of gold in FY23, which would be underpinned by the delivery of 1.1 million tonnes of ore from the Gwalia mine to the Leonora processing plant.
Today, St Barabara said it now expected to produce between 260,000 and 290,000 ounces over FY23, with 950,000 tonnes of ore to be delivered from the Gwalia mine.
At the end of the September quarter, St Barbara had $65 million in cash, representing a $34 million decrease from the June quarter.
SBM shares fell 20.9 per cent on the back of today’s downgrade to trade at 53 cents at 2:59 pm AEDT.