The troubles in Nicaragua.......................According to Darren Hall on the oct 18 conference call:
In answer to a question from Ingrid Rico of Stiefel:
reconciliation and performance at Volcan is an isolated issue related to previous artisinal activities. The model as defined was reliable - what was missed was how much was taken from the model by these previous mining activities. Volcan will continue to contribute in 2025 and no more surprises should be encountered since they have now mined through the areas that had this unexpected depletion.
The larger miss in Nicaragua was really about delays in presenting grade, predominately from Limon. Those delays were associated with the technical issues discussed in Q2 (pit wall collapse?) . The real issue was delivering into plan - there was a good plan that was developed - but for reasons now corrected - people deviated from that plan (he doesnt say what people, but obviously it would be whoever was in charge there on the ground at the time) so we didnt deliver the expected grade and tonnes.
In Hall's own words "this truly is management dropping the ball" .Again, he says this is now corrected - and we see a build in material being mined in Q4 - for perspective - strip ratio in Q4 is half what it was in Q3 and the grade is higher so they now have a significant stockpile build on surface as a consequence of the initial delays.