Kirkland Gold production of 596,405 oz
Kirkland Lake Gold announced record annual and quarterly production for the full-year and fourth quarter of 2017, respectively. Comparative information for the full-year and fourth quarter of 2016 includes results for the Fosterville , Cosmo and Stawell mines prior to the merger between Kirkland Lake Gold Inc.
Consolidated full-year 2017 production of 596,405 ounces, beating improved guidance of 580,000 – 595,000 ounces & record full-year production at all operating mines, including 263,845 ounces at Fosterville , 194,237 ounces at Macassa, 66,677 ounces at Holt and 50,764 ounces at Taylor.
Consolidated quarterly production in Q4 2017 totaling 166,579 ounces, a 9% increase from Q4 2016 and 20% higher than Q3 2017. Record quarterly production in Q4 2017 at Fosterville (79,157 ounces), Holt (19,263 ounces) and Taylor (16,538 ounces), second best quarter ever at Macassa (51,608 ounces).
Tony Makuch , President and Chief Executive Officer of Kirkland Lake Gold , commented: “We had a successful year in 2017, achieving record results at all of our operating mines, beating our improved consolidated production guidance, which had been increased three times during the year, and reporting solid growth in mineral reserves.
Particularly encouraging was our strong finish to the year, with Q4 2017 being our best quarter ever for production. Leading the way was Fosterville , where full-year production increased 74% from the previous year, and record fourth quarter results reflected an average grade of 21.5 g/t, by far the highest quarterly average ever achieved by the mine.
Over the last year, Fosterville has joined our Macassa mine as one of the world’s highest-grade gold producers, with mineral reserve ounces and the average reserve grade more than doubling and annual production capacity increasing to over a quarter million ounces per year, with more growth to come.
“Looking ahead, we plan to keep building momentum through additional production growth, improved unit costs, as well as further increases to mineral reserves and resources based and continued exploration success. We will also remain focused on generating shareholder returns through continued operational effectiveness, strong financial performance and disciplined investment for future growth.
In addition, we offer a competitive quarterly dividend, with growth potential, and will be opportunistic when it comes to future share repurchases. Supporting all of our activities is a strong balance sheet, with cash and cash equivalents of approximately $230 million at December 31, 2017 and no debt.”
Key: gold mining, gold production, bullion
