Brigus Gold Corp. of Halifax increased sales of gold from its mine near Timmins by 11 per cent in its third quarter compared with the similar period last year, analysts heard Tuesday.
“We’re on target for a record fourth quarter for the mine and for the company,” Wade Dawe, president and chief executive officer, said during a third-quarter webcast and conference call.
Dawe said numbers will continue to improve in the fourth quarter and in 2013 as production volume increases at the underground portion of the Black Fox Mine and the neighbouring open-pit site.
“Gold production from the underground mine continues to ramp up and per-ounce production costs are trending lower.”
Brigus could also potentially begin working an underground mine next year that was abandoned by the former owners when gold prices were lower.
All the required permitting is in place to facilitate a near-term return to mining at the abandoned site, Dawe said.
It was operating in a producing gold vein when it was closed several years ago, he said.
Details on the abandoned mine, which would require infrastructure work and dewatering, can be expected around the middle of next year, Dawe said.
Analysts heard operations at the Black Fox Mine continue to ramp up and the company is on track to meet its forecast 2012 gold production of 77,000 to 85,000 ounces, at a per-ounce cash cost to the company of $775 to $825.
For the third quarter of this year, the company increased its operating margin by two per cent to $855 per ounce, compared with $836 per ounce for the third quarter of 2011.
During the third quarter this year, the company generated positive income from operations of $5.9 million, up from $2.6 million in 2011.
Brigus’s shares nudged up 3.77 per cent to $1.02 in afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.