The world’s most valuable gold miner Goldcorp (TSE:G), said its output could end up near the bottom end of its forecast range this year because of production problems at a Mexico mine.
Vancouver-based Goldcorp said yesterday it has suspended mining at its El Sauzal mine in Mexico as a safety precaution after instability in the pit wall.
CEO Chuck Jeannes told Reuters it could be weeks or months before the company could resume mining at El Sauzal.
In a worst case scenario, Goldcorp would be unable to restart mining at the operation, which is in its last year of active mine life.
El Sauzal, in Chihuahua State, in the western part of the Sierra Madre mountain range, was expected to produce between 60,000 and 70,000 ounces over the remainder of 2014. A stoppage in April at its Los Filos mine in Mexico will also impact the final production data.
Goldcorp’s earlier guidance was for 2.95m – 3.1m ounces of gold this year, up from 2.67m in 2013.
Goldcorp, worth just shy of $23 billion on the Toronto stock exchange, fell more than 3% in value on Thursday as the sector comes under renewed pressure from a gold price sliding to a near 3-month low.
