The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - July 26, 2024
Northern Star's Pogo Mine in Alaska poured an average of 1,000 oz of gold per day during the second quarter.
The Pogo mill outperformed its nameplate capacity by 17% during the second quarter.
Northern Star Resources Ltd. July 25 reported that its Pogo Mine in Alaska produced a record 92,078 ounces of gold during the second quarter of calendar year 2024, a 13% increase over the 81,322 oz produced during the same period last year and an enormous 58% climb from the 58,432 oz recovered during the previous quarter.
"Pogo in Alaska delivered an exceptional quarter," Northern Star Managing Director and CEO Stuart Tonkin told analysts and investors.
This exceptional quarter was the product of both substantially higher ore grades and mill throughput at Northern Star's only operation outside of Australia.
During the second quarter, the mill at Pogo processed 381,643 metric tons of ore averaging 8.5 grams per ton gold, compared to 309,105 metric tons of ore averaging 6.8 g/t gold during the previous quarter.
The mill throughput was well above the rated capacity of 325,000 metric tons per quarter, or 1.3 million metric tons per year. Northern Star is not counting on the mill outperforming to achieve its production goal for Pogo – a steady 300,000 oz of gold per year.
Holding the gold grades being fed into the mill closer to the 8.5 g/t gold achieved last quarter, however, is part of the plan.
The Pogo mill outperformed its nameplate capacity by 17% during the second quarter.
According to a calculation completed at the end of March, Pogo hosts 5.88 million metric tons of reserves averaging 8 g/t (1.52 million oz) gold.
To keep the grade of the ore being fed into the mill closer to what has been outlined in reserves, Northern Star has focused its underground mining efforts on increasing the percentage of stope ore processed to decrease dilution and increase the gold grades being fed into the mill.
During the first quarter, the Pogo mine delivered 261,000 metric tons of stope ore, which accounts for 69% of the total ore mined, compared to 192,000 metric tons of stope ore, or 61% of the ore mined during the first quarter.
As a result of the strong quarter, Pogo produced 278,981 oz of gold during Northern Star's fiscal year, which ended on June 30.
The Australian gold mining company, however, is expecting production at Pogo to drop off during the first quarter of the company's new fiscal year due to scheduled maintenance that will result in mill shutdowns over the next five weeks.
Northern Star believes the time and money invested in the processing facilities will help set Pogo up for longer-term success.
Tonkin told shareholders and analysts that Pogo is a "fantastic asset" that is "worth investing in."
The Northern Star CEO's conviction in Pogo is rooted in the Alaska operation's 20.5 million metric tons of resources averaging 10.1 g/t (6.7 million oz) gold, which includes the reserves mentioned above.
"I remind listeners that Pogo boasts a gold resource of nearly 7 million ounces at above 10 grams per ton highlighting that we will be generating strong U.S. dollar cash flow for the next decade plus," said Tonkin. "A fantastic achievement and well done to team Pogo."
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
Reader Comments(0)