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Sukari gold mine, located 700 km from Cairo. (Image courtesy of Centamin)
Shares in gold producer Centamin (LON:CEY) (TSX:CEE) dropped Thursday, diving as much as 4.7% in early trading in London, as the Egypt-focused miner said it expected to produce 420,000 ounces of gold at its at its flagship Sukari mine this year, missing some analyst expectations.
Production at the mine, however, climbed 40% in the fourth quarter of 2014, reaching 128,115 ounces, a record level when compared to the same period of 2013.
Source: Google Finance.
That brought full year production to 377,261 ounces, 6% more than the total produced the previous year and within the revised guidance of between 370,000 and 380,000 ounces, the company said.
Sukari, Centamin’s only producing mine, is projected to raise its production in 2015 by 11% to 420,000 ounces at an operating cost of $700 per ounce.
Government’s green light
The company also said the Egyptian government has finally approve an increase in the amount of ammonium nitrate it uses as explosives for open pit mining. This puts and end to one of the latest issues between the company and authorities in the African country.
In 2012 a court cancelled Centamin’s mining license, which the Alexandria-based company managed to recover. The following year, a 400 kg gold shipment from Sukari was prevented from leaving Egypt as authorities claimed Centamin needed a permit from the National Petroleum ministry to do so.
Despite the hiccups, Centamin’s shares have doubled over the past year as it has insisted its rights will be protected whole holding out the prospect of a dividend.
