Centamin's 2013 production growth easily tops guidance

6th Jan 2014 07:09

FTSE 250 Egypt-focused gold miner Centamin easily beat its annual output guidance for 2013 with the production of 356,943 ounces (oz) of gold from its flagship Sukari project.Total gold production in the fourth quarter ended December 31st 2013 reached 91,546oz, 8% higher than the third quarter and up 7% on the same quarter of 2012. This pushed full-year output up 36% year-on-year, beating the company's forecast of 320,000oz. Sukari, the only operating gold mine in Egypt, is a 160km-square project located in the south-easterly region of the Eastern Desert, around 700km from Cairo and 25km from the Red Sea."Consistently high levels of productivity have been achieved at Sukari throughout 2013, with minimal impact from unplanned stoppages or the start of Stage 4 commissioning activities," said Chairman Josef El-Ragpy. "Full-year production is ahead of guidance, as indicated in the third quarter results, and we look forward to delivering a further successive year of growth in 2014 as the plant expansion drives the continued ramp-up towards our 450-500,000oz per-annum long-term target."BC