'Consistency is the watchword' Centamin boss says

Gold-miner Centamin has met it guidance for the third year running, suggesting that the troubled Sukari mine in Egypt is now in hand.

Centamin reported 2023 output of 450,000oz, in line with guidance. The latest guidance hit is good news for Centamin chief executive Martin Horgan, who joined the company in 2020, with a mandate to reform Sukari.

Previous management decisions at Sukari had maximised short-term output but left the mine in a condition where that high output was hard to maintain.

"One of the things I said when I first joined was I wanted to get back to building a track record of consistency," Horgan told Mining Journal.

Horgan instituted a major program of stripping overburden, to allow access to fresh ore, designed to prepare the mine for stable output for years to come.

"So all of that heavy lifting is now behind us both in terms of operationally and cost wise, that's given us much better flexibility in the additional working areas, and more contingency within the mine plan," Horgan said.

"Compliance to plan is the is the watchword."

No more short-termism

Production in 2024 is guided for 470-500,000oz. Although half a Moz would be a significant milestone, Horgan said that the focus would be on consistent growth.

"We want to get to stay there," Horgan said. "We want to get to that consistency of production."

"You want to get up to that level and maintain that level as well."

"We don't want to try and sort of take a short term when there has a long-term penalty. You know, we've moved away from that operating model now," Horgan said.

Costs under control

Centamin also reported lower costs. These were helped by lower diesel prices, and the results from the mine improvement program, as well as a falling AISC as production rises.

The miner is working towards lowering power costs, as it works toward striking a deal to buy grid power, as well as its own solar plant, which should push down diesel use costs even further.

Horgan said the company is now looking at new opportunities, after success at Sukari. This includes the Doropo gold project in Sukaria, as well as a drilling program in Egypt. And Horgan, who recently attended the FMF conference in Riyadh, said Saudi could offer opportunities given its similar geology to Egypt.