Kirkland Lake Increases Gold Production by 30 Percent in Q3

Gold miner Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX:KL, NYSE:KL, ASX:KLA) has exceeded its original production target for the third quarter of this year, increasing its gold production by 30 percent year-on-year, the company announced on Monday (October 8).

Kirkland produced 180,155 ounces of gold during Q3 compared to 139,092 ounces the company put out during the same quarter in 2017. Additionally, Kirkland’s output was up 9 percent from the previous quarter this year.

“Q3 2018 was a record quarter for both Fosterville in Australia and our Canadian operations as a whole,” stated Tony Makuch, president and CEO of Kirkland.

The successful quarter was driven by record quarterly output from the Fosterville mine, in Australia, and from its Canadian operations Macassa, Holt and Taylor.

“At Fosterville, we commissioned a second gravity circuit during Q3 2018 and saw an immediate spike in production, with the Fosterville Mill processing over 18,000 ounces in the first week of the circuit’s operation,” Makuch explained.

The Fosterville mine increased its year-on-year production by 47 percent when it produced 90,618 ounces of gold, while the three Canadian mines collectively produced 89,537 ounces.

Makuch addressed production at the Canadian operations, stating, “record production across our three mines reflected strong results at Macassa, where Q3 2018 production was very much in line with target levels, our best quarter of production to date at Holt and a better production performance from Taylor mine compared to the previous quarter.”

He also noted that as Kirkland heads into the final quarter of the year, the company is on track to obtain 2018 consolidated production guidance of over 635,000 ounces.

On the financial side, the miner had cash and cash equivalents of US$275 million as of September 30, while the company used US$47.8 million to acquire 2.6-million common shares of Osisko Mining (TSX:OSK), representing about 13.6 percent of currently issued and outstanding common shares.

In addition, Kirkland repurchased 1,570,600 common shares during the quarter, at an average cost of US$24.77 a share for a total of US$30 million.

As of 12:28 p.m. EST, Kirkland was down 0.32 percent, trading at C$24.85, which is down slightly from mid-July and August when the stock was performing at around C$30.00.

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