Banro’s lower gold output leaves year-end guidance out of reach

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Banro Corporation’s Twangiza and Namoya operations produced a combined 38 739 oz of gold during the second quarter of this year, bringing the year-to-date production to 84 954 oz of gold.

The lower-than-expected gold production from both mines, along with the ongoing challenging operating environment given the current instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), during the first six months of this year, will see the company fall short of its full-year gold production guidance, Banro said in an update to shareholders this week.

The Canadian gold mining company, which reported reduced output of 19 588 oz from Twangiza and 19 151 oz from Namoya, had previously targeted full-year production of 210 000 oz to 230 000 oz of gold.

Twangiza's 15% quarter-on-quarter decrease was owing to limited access to mine oxide feed to blend with higher-grade nonoxide feed from the pit, while the process recoveries were negatively impacted on by the limited oxide ore available for blending.

However, the addition of mobile fine crushing units during the second quarter is expected to enhance both gold recoveries and mill throughput, leading to an overall increase in gold production at the mine for the second half of the year.

At Namoya, reduced availability of certain critical supplies for both processing and mining and delays in the delivery of the additional excavator led to lower-than-planned digging capacity, which, in turn, limited the ability to move enough waste material to expose relatively higher-grade ore for stacking.

New mining fleet, delivered this month, is expected to unlock higher levels of gold production in the second half of the year.

Meanwhile, the interruptions of operations owing to the security incidents at the Namoya mine during the second quarter also contributed to the low production.

“These security incidents reduced operating activities from both mining and processing operations during the first half of this year and impacted on the gold production during the same period. The impact included the loss of 8.5 days of mining operations during the second quarter,” Banro explained.

Banro continues to explore opportunities to raise additional financing and/or refinance existing obligations amid the ongoing operational and working capital challenges.