Gord Stothart
Analyst · RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead
Thank you, Carol. Good morning, everybody. Not to set a precedent but I’m going to focus a little more on Westwood in my comment this quarter versus the other operations, as I’m sure most of you are interested in how we’re doing with the underground development and our revised ramp up plan. On a consolidated basis, we produced 191,000 attributable ounces of gold in the first quarter. Total cash costs were $746 a ounce and all-in sustaining costs $1,084 an ounce. We continue to normalize costs at Westwood in light of the low of production and the focus on underground development this year. At the consolidated level, this reduced both cash costs and AISC by $32 an ounce. In the second quarter, we expect production to be a bit lower due to seasonal factors, but to pick up in the second half of the year. We maintain our 2016 guidance for production of between 770,000 and 800,000 ounces of gold and AISC of between $1,000 and $1,100 an ounce. Essakane has set the bar high, coming off two years of record production. Attributable production of 88,000 ounces in the first quarter was down slightly from a year ago, as lower grades were partially offset by higher throughput and recoveries. The 9% increase in mill throughput reflects improvements in drilling and blasting, optimization of the grinding circuit and the use of blended ore to achieve stable feed. Total cash costs were below $700 an ounce in the quarter, reflecting lower fuel prices, a stronger U.S. dollar relative to euro and improved plant performance. While all-in sustaining costs reflected an increase in capitalized waste striping in the quarter, they should move closer to $900 an ounce in the second half of the year. The commissioning of an intensive leach reactor in the gravity circuit and the carbon fines incinerator, in the third quarter will further enhance operational performance. Looking at Rosebel, attributable production was 68,000 ounces in the first quarter, down from the previous year. Lower grades and lower throughput due to our higher proportion of hard rock were the main reasons. Rosebel’s all-in sustaining costs of $955 an ounce were down 8% from last year. Lower fuel costs, lower labor costs following the workforce reduction last year and devaluation of the U.S. Suriname’s dollar were primary factors, as well haul truck and loading unit productivity has improved. We’re shifting towards more technology based processes such as high precision definition and drilling blasts and higher precision GPS loading unit control, as well as the commissioning of a new flex power drive for the SAG mill to increase the grinding capacity for hard rock. And by the end of the year, we’ll complete the installation of a secondary crusher to mitigate throughput impacts as we move to a higher proportion of fresh rock. Turning to Westwood, we continue to execute on the reduced production plan as we described in our January presentation, as we focus on development work and opening up new sectors. In the first quarter, production from the planned mining blocks was on track with lower dilution and better grades than expected. Underground development to open up access to new mining sectors is on target, and I’ll walk you through some of the key benchmarks in a movement, so you can see how we’re tracking. Rehabilitation work related to the opening of the 104 mining block is progressing well with the completion of the first of the five bypass strips. The bypass strips will allow for improved operational efficiency and better access to the production lenses that were temporarily cut off by the seismic incident last year. As per plan, we don’t expect to commence production mining there until early 2017. I’ll add that the results of an inspection of the two most damaged drifts were encouraging with ground conditions as expected, better. Slide 16 shows how we are doing relative to some key benchmarks. Safety performance has been excellent with no lost time incidence or injuries year-to-date. We achieved 6,200 meters of combined lateral and vertical underground development in the first three months of the year. Lateral development is averaging 61 meters a day at a development rate of nine meters per day per jumble crew [ph] which is 11% better than planned. Development of track drifts continues in accordance with our revised ramp up plan, and vertical development rates have picked up to planned rates in the last couple of months. Our diamond drilling program continues to focus on infill drilling to convert confirmed [ph] resources to indicated. As with our other operations, Westwood continues to work at improving operating efficiency and productivity. Next year, we should be able to significantly increase production due to better grades. Further out, we expect to ramp up the full production of between 180,000 and 200,000 ounces per year by 2019. Long-term profile for Westwood is very attractive with a minimum 20-year mine life, superior grades relative to other mines and unit production costs that are expected to be the lowest of any of our operations. Notwithstanding the Sadiola is producing at the same level as last year, their cash costs and all-in sustaining costs were down 10% for the same quarter a year ago. In addition to improvements to mill throughput, the lower cost of fuel and other consumables, lower contractor costs and favorable FX rates were contributing factors. Milling at Sadiola will continue into 2018 and technical and economic studies for the sulphide expansion project continue to be updated as we work together with our partners at AGA to find a path forward. So that completes the operations review. Craig will now give an update on exploration.