January 10, 2012 06:00 ET
San Gold Achieves Record Production in Q4 2011
http://www.marketwire.com/press-rel...ord-production-in-q4-2011-tsx-sgr-1604741.htm
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA--(Marketwire - Jan. 10, 2012) - San Gold Corporation (TSX:SGR)(OTCQX:SGRCF) today announced preliminary results of operations at its Rice Lake Mining Complex in Manitoba, Canada for the quarter ended December 31, 2011.
Q4 Production Highlights
•Record gold production of 20,359 ounces with additional 4,000 to 5,000 in surface ore stockpile.
•December production of 8,388 ounces annualized supports 100,000 ounce guidance for 2012.
•Milling and crushing initiatives completed to upgrade mill capacity to 2,000 tons per day.
•Exploration results issued in December continue to demonstrate the tremendous potential of our new mine trends.
Fourth Quarter 2011 Preliminary Operating Results
San Gold produced a record 20,359 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter with approximately 25,400 tons of ore in the surface stockpiles representing an additional 4,000 to 5,000 ounces of gold in front of the mill.
During December the operation established a new daily mill record of 2,056 tons per day, with an average throughput of 1,775 tons per day. The operation began the year at an average production rate of 829 tons per day.
"This has been a tremendous year for our production team at Rice Lake. We've executed a very aggressive development plan, increasing our milling capacity by two-thirds while building out an extensive mine complex along a new mining horizon. We are well positioned going into 2012 and will continue to aggressively pursue new opportunities as they emerge," said San Gold President and Chief Executive Officer George Pirie.
There were two planned events during the fourth quarter that resulted in lost milling opportunities. In the first two weeks of October, throughput rates in the flotation circuit were reduced while the second bank of new flotation cells was commissioned. In November, three milling days were lost due to the commissioning of the new screening plant and the relocation of the three stage crushing circuit. No upgrades that will affect mill throughput are planned through the first half of 2012.
Total gold production for 2011 was 74,280 ounces with 4,000 to 5,000 in surface stockpiles accumulated during the year, effectively meeting our full year guidance of 80,000 ounces. On an annualized basis, December production supports our 100,000 ounce production forecast for 2012.