(Kitco News) - Yesterday, Monarch Mining (TSX: GBAR) announced that it has made the decision to slow down mining operations at its wholly-owned Beaufor gold mine, located east of Val-d'Or, Quebec. The Beacon mill operations will not be impacted.
The company said that the restart and ramp-up of the Beacon mill have been slower than expected and the availability for the months of July and August has been approximately 50% of its capacity of 750 tpd.
According to a press-release, the ramp-up has been impacted by a number of mechanical and procurement problems as well as technical problems with the grade reconciliation of the stockpile already at the Beacon site, which included a low-grade pile and development ore that turned out to be lower grade than expected.
“As a result, cash flow from milling operations has been lower than expected,” the company said in a statement.
Monarch noted that as a result of short-term cash restriction, it has decided to slow down production activities at the Beaufor mine, adding that during this period, the company will work towards optimizing its mining method in an effort to reduce dilution.
“This is a difficult decision to make, especially with the recently announced first gold pour, but one that is necessary to ensure that the ramp-up and integration of mining and milling operations improve over the coming weeks,” stated President and CEO Jean-Marc Lacoste. “The presence of COVID-19 brings a new reality that we must deal with and better integrate into our production process. Over the next few weeks, our team will be working relentlessly to find solutions to resolve these issues and to get the plant running at full capacity.”
"During this period, which we believe to be temporary, we will continue to process the more than 20,000 tonnes of ore stockpiled at the Beacon mill and Beaufor mine sites in order to generate the funds required for our operations," he concluded.
The company’s shares are down over 40% this afternoon.
Monarch Mining is a fully integrated mining company that owns four projects, including the Beaufor mine, which has produced more than 1 million ounces of gold over the last 30 years. Other assets include the Croinor Gold, McKenzie Break and Swanson properties, all located near Monarch’s wholly owned 750 tpd Beacon mill.
