Oceana Gold is being picked to deliver a record 550,000 ounces of gold for calendar 2017, albeit at the bottom end of its guidance range.
Bolstered by gold production from its new Haile mine in South Carolina, Oceana appears on track to hit the 550,000-600,000oz guidance it has maintained for the past year.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said while Oceana's operational performance during the third quarter was ''generally strong'', he expected its Macraes mine in East Otago may ''lag'' in production for the rest of the year.
Macraes gold production of 37,000oz was 15% below Craigs' estimate, attributable to the processing of lower grade gold ore, but grades were set to rise for the final quarter.
''However, the company admitted they may struggle to hit [annual] guidance for Macraes of 180,000-190,000oz at the operation,'' Mr McIntyre said.
Haile's production for the third quarter was as expected, with the production ramp-up and fine-tuning of equipment expected to continue. At Waihi in the central North island, production was up for the quarter and was expected to overall have a ''strong'' year, he said.
Oceana's Didipio mine in the Philippines had been constrained in throughput because of its operating permit, but was expected to meet the top end of gold guidance and deliver 160,000oz for the calendar year, Mr McIntyre said.
