Australia's third largest gold producer Sino Gold has delivered a 51 per cent increase in gold production compared with this time last year.
Speaking to BusinessDay ahead of the investor briefing this morning, Sino chief executive Jake Klein said today's quarterly marked the sixth consecutive quarter of increased production.
The Sino group produced a record 53,367 ounces in the quarter ended June 30, up from 35,412 ounces in the June quarter last year.
Sino said it would deliver full year production at the upper end of its guidance of 210,000 to 230,000 ounces of gold.
It cash operating cost was $US391 per ounce.
"We are very very happy. We think it is a terrific quarterly," Mr Klein told BusinessDay. "We see a lot more to come and the fact that we are getting ready to construct our third mine is exciting. People are looking for growth and we have set ourselves an aggressive target but we are getting more confident that we can deliver on that."
Sino's Eastern Dragon mine in north east China is set to start production late next year subject to final approvals by the Chinese Government.
Mr Klein said he continued to be confident of doing business in China despite the arrest of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu, who is being held on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets.
"It is hard to comment on that case without knowing all the facts but all I can say is that it has not had any impact on our business or employees," he said.
mmurphy@theage.com.au
The Age
