PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner Kirkland Lake has revised its 2019 production guidance to between 920 000 oz and one-million ounces, as the Fosterville operation, in Victoria, continues to outperform.

The new guidance compared with the previous full-year consolidated guidance of between 740 000 oz and 800 000 oz, delivered in December last year.

“Since November 2016, Fosterville has been transformed into one of the world’s highest-grade, most profitable gold mines, which has greatly benefited Kirkland Lake Gold and its shareholders,” said company CEO and president Tony Makuch.

“The completion of Fosterville’s December mineral reserve and resource estimates, with the related revisions to its life-of-mine plan and production profile, have taken that transformation to an even higher level, with potential for much more to come.

“Largely driven by the 34% increase in the Forsterville mineral reserve grade, we are now on track to achieve significantly higher levels of production at Fosterville in 2019 than previously expected, and could reach one-million ounces of annual gold production as early as this year.”

For 2020, Kirkland Lake is expecting gold production to reach between 930 000 oz and 1.01-million ounces, while 2021 will see the production of between 995 000 oz and 1.05-million ounces.

Makuch said that just as encouraging as the growth in ounces, was the fact that with a higher average grade at Fosterville, as well as at the Macassa operation, in Ontario, the company’s mineral reserve ounces were more valuable, which meant improved unit costs and increased cash flows per ounce going forward, based on the current gold price.

For 2019, operating cash costs are now estimated at between $300/oz to $320/oz, down from the previous estimate of between $360/oz and $380/oz, while all-in sustaining cost have been improved from the previous guidance of between $630/oz and $680/oz, to between $520/oz and $560/oz.