PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Senegal-focused gold miner Teranga Gold has downgraded its full-year production expectations by 8 000 oz, after deferring the mining of high-grade ounces and after failing to meet production expectations in the three months to September.

The ASX- and TSX-listed miner on Friday reported that gold production for the quarter had reached 48 598 oz, a 32% increase on the previous corresponding period, and a significant increase on the 39 857 oz produced in the previous quarter.

However, Teranga noted that the production from its Sabodala mine was lower than expected, with a 5 000 oz discrepancy between the predicted gold production, based on the daily production report assays, and the reconciled gold poured at the end of the quarter.

The company said that an initial assessment of the discrepancy had revealed that there was a bias in the assays by the independent lab on site, which began in the third quarter. The company said that further investigations were now under way.

“We expect to finish the year on a strong note with higher fourth-quarter production of about 75 000 oz and lower costs, allowing us to meet one of our key objectives, which is to be debt free by year-end,” said president and CEO Richard Young.

“The optimisation of the 2015 mine plan completed during the quarter is expected to improve our 2015 cash flow by A$40-million to A$60-million, which should allow us to build up our cash balances.”

Mining for the balance of the year would take place in the higher-grade areas of the Sabodala pit, as well as the upper benches of the Masato pit.

Access to the lowest benches of Phase 3 Sabodala, which was originally scheduled for the fourth quarter, had now been deferred into 2015 owing to bench access constraints.

In total, some 10 300 high-grade ounces which had originally been part of the 2014 mine plan would now be mined and processed in the first quarter of 2015, and as a result of this deferral, gold production in 2014 was expected to be impacted by about 8 000 oz as the high-grade material was displaced by low-grade feed to the mill.

Based on the deferral, annual production for 2014 was now expected to be around 215 000 oz, down from the previous guidance of between 220 000 oz and 240 000 oz.