Gran Colombia Lifts Gold Guidance After Strong Performance

Toronto-based Gran Colombia Gold (TSX:GCM) has increased its 2018 full-year (FY) guidance by between 10,000 ounces and 20,000 ounces following a strong performance during the first eight months of 2018, the company announced on Tuesday (September 11).

The gold miner, which operates various underground mines in Colombia, noted that it had produced 36 percent more gold in the first eight months of 2018 than in the same period of 2017.

“We are continuing to see strong performance from our company mines at Segovia this year with head grades averaging close to 20 grams per tonne through the first eight months of the year,” said Serafino Iacono, executive co-chairperson.

Between January and August of this year, the company produced 143,621 ounces of gold, allowing the miner to release a new production guidance for 2018 at a range of 210,000 ounces to 220,000 ounces, up from the previous target of 200,000 ounces.

At the company’s Segovia operations, gold production in August amounted to 16,393 ounces, bringing the total for the first eight months of this year to 127,101 ounces.

The uptick in gold ounces produced has increased 43 percent year-on-year and brings Segovia’s trailing 12-months’ total gold production as of August 2018 to 187,108 ounces, climbing 26 percent from 2017.

The company also noted that operating activities at Segovia remained oncourse in August and Gran Colombia expects the mine will produce between 185,000 ounces and 195,000 ounces, up from the initial 2018 gold production guidance of 167,000 ounces.

The miner’s Marmato mine has also produced positive results, as it is experiencing its third month in a row of better head grades, averaging close to 3.0 grams per tonne, and processing an average of 924 tonnes per day in the month, with gold production at the mine increasing to 2,353 ounces in August.

August’s increase now brings the total for the first eight months of 2018 to 16,520 ounces, which is on par with the first eight months of last year.

Marmato’s trailing 12-months’ total gold production as of August 2018 comes in at 24,875 ounces. Gold production guidance for Marmato for this year remains unchanged at between 24,000 ounces and 26,000 ounces.

As of 12:05 p.m. EST on Wednesday (September 12), Gran Colombia was up 3.30 percent in Toronto, trading at C$2.19.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Nicole Rashotte, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.