(Kitco News) - On Tuesday, Victoria Gold (TSX: VGCX) announced that in Q3 2022, the company produced 50,028 ounces of gold at its Eagle Gold Mine in Yukon, down 10% compared to Q3 2021 (55,827 ounces).
The company said that reduced year-over-year Q3 production was the result of no run of mine ore tonnes hauled directly from the open pit to the Heap Leach Facility ("HLF"), adding that in Q3 2021, a total of 1.1M tonnes of run of mine ore was hauled directly from the open pit to the HLF.
Victoria Gold noted it decided to forego run of mine stacking during 2022 as it incurs higher unit costs and results in lower gold recovery. Waste tonnes mined in Q3 2022 were lower than the equivalent period of 2021 due to mine sequencing, longer waste hauls and scheduled component replacements on major mine production equipment.
Importantly, the company also reported that on September 29, the 1.5 kilometer overland conveyor that links and delivers ore from the crushing plant to the HLF experienced a splice failure of the main belt, which has been in service since the start of operations in 2019.
"After review of the overall condition of the belting, it has been determined that the best course of action is to replace, rather than repair, the belting. New belting is on site and additional resources have been mobilized to site to support the belting crews," it added.
Due to the length of the belt and number of sections to be spliced, the company anticipates that crushing, conveying and stacking operations will be down between 2 to 3 weeks.
Victoria Gold noted that because of the expected length of time required to replace the overland conveyor belt, the company anticipates it will no longer achieve production or cost guidance.
"As a result, 2022 production and cost guidance have been retracted. Updated guidance will be addressed following full resumption of Eagle operations," the company said in a statement.
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