Gold Fields' Salares Notre project in Chile is now expected to start production in April 2024, after further delays caused by commissioning problems, the South African miner said on Thursday.
Construction of the $1 billion (R18bn) mine started in 2020 with production initially expected early in 2023. However, the mine has missed several targets, including the most recent one for December 2023, due to delays caused by Covid-19 and bad weather.
Although mechanical construction of the project is complete and mining has progressed significantly, it is now only expected to deliver the first gold during the second quarter of 2024 due to delays in the commissioning process, the Johannesburg-based gold miner said in a statement.
"Current pre-commissioning and commissioning of the project has however, encountered difficulties impacting on the delivery of first gold," Gold Fields said.
Contractor availability and late configuration changes requested by original equipment manufacturers had also contributed to the delays, it added.
As a result of the delay, Gold Fields has revised its 2024 production forecast from Salares Notre to 220000-250000 ounces, from 400000-430000 ounces previously.
Salares Notre's output is then expected reach 600 000 ounces in 2025 and 2026.
The Chile mine is key to Gold Fields' aim of raising its output to about 2.8 million ounces by 2025 from some 2.3 million ounces currently.
REUTERS