Alamos Gold is off to a strong start in 2016, producing 94,632 ounces (oz) of gold at a all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $986/oz, which is down 11% compared to 2015. “Financially, our operations were break-even, well ahead of schedule,” said John A. McCluskey, president and CEO, Alamos Gold. “Further, with stronger production and lower costs, we expect each operation to generate positive free cash flow in 2016 at current gold prices.”
The core focus for Alamos in 2016 is continuing the ramp up of underground production at Young-Davidson. “The ramp up at Young-Davidson remains on track. We completed commissioning of the MCM shaft and the transition to owner development, both of which are driving significant cost and productivity improvements,” McCluskey said. “Development of La Yaqui and Cerro Pelon remain on schedule and we continue to aggressively drill both deposits. We are increasing our exploration efforts and budget by 60% following up on a very successful 2015 drill campaign, which we believe has only started to unlock the potential of these deposits.”
At Young-Davidson, underground mining rates increased to average more than 6,300 metric tons per day (mt/d) in April, and the company believes the mine is on track to achieve the year-end target rate of 7,000 mt/d.
“Unit underground mining costs were consistent with the budget in the first quarter of 2016 and are expected to trend lower through the year, reflecting ongoing productivity improvements and economies of scale,” McCluskey said.
At Mulatos, the open-pit, heap-leach operation performed very well in the first quarter and continues to be the driver of the mine, supplying approximately 80% of production in 2016. Ongoing operational improvements and lower input costs contributed to substantially lower operating costs in the first quarter of 2016, McCluskey explained.
The focus at Cerro Pelon and La Yaqui remains on developing and expanding the higher grade deposits.
