Centamin cuts 2020 guidance on Sukari disruption

Centamin has cut its 2020 production guidance after putting operations on hold at part of its Sukari goldmine in Egypt.

The company said it immediately deferred open pit mining at Sukari's Stage 4 West wall after detecting movement in a localised area of waste material. Centamin said it had taken measures to stabilise the affected area and had started a geotechnical assessment with the aim of mining the affected area.

Centamin said it halted operations to protect its workers and safeguard Sukari's long-term potential. The company's shares fell 18.5% to 163.90p at 08:32 BST.

The company said the high-grade zone was due to be mined in the fourth quarter of 2020 and in 2021. The area contains about 90,000 ounces of gold and mining of the impacted high-grade material will be rescheduled, it said.

Centamin said preliminary gold production for the three months to the end of September was about 120,000 ounces, taking 2020 production so far to 375,000 ounces. It said fourth-quarter production would drop to about 70,000 ounces because of the disruption.

Martin Horgan, Centamin's chief executive, said: "The safety of our employees is paramount. The use of the slope radar system has facilitated pro-active management of geotechnical risks and we have decided to defer production from this higher-grade area in order to protect our workforce and preserve the value of Sukari."

Horgan said recovery requirements and implications for the stability of the mine would be included in a life of asset review already underway.