Simmers production up 34%

Junior gold miner Sitrituradoras de arboles en mexicommers & Jack Mines (Simmers, SIM) on Tuesday reported a 34% rise in gold production from its Tau Lekoa and Buffelsfontein Gold Mine (BGM) to 49,170 ounces for the quarter ended December 2010 from 36,608oz in the September quarter.

This performance was largely due to Simmer's materially reducing general costs and increasing production at sustainable grades, it said. Gold revenue increased from 327 million rand for the quarter ended September 2010 to 463 million rand, with nearly half of the increase due to increased volumes, while 17.9 million rand was due to a 5% increase in the rand gold price per kilogram. Average underground grade increased from 3.21g/t last quarter to 3.54g/t. CFO and Interim CEO Marius Saaiman described the performance as “solid”. He said the increased production was largely as a result of accounting for Tau Lekoa for the full quarter, but is also due to the group's focus on operating efficiencies, sharing operational benefits between its two operations and good cost control.