Aurora's gold output falls

Aurora's gold output falls

SYDNEY (Reuter): Aurora Gold Ltd said yesterday gold production in the quarter ended June 30 fell below levels of the previous quarter and year earlier period due to problems at its Mount Muro mine in Indonesia.

Gold equivalent output in the latest quarter totaled 47,396 ounces, down 13.2 percent from the previous quarter and 5.2 percent from the year earlier period, company figures show.

Aurora said low stockpiles of explosives and problems obtaining drilling equipment resulted in a severe draw down of inpit broken stocks of ore during the quarter at the Mount Muro mine in Kalimantan.

The arrival of drilling equipment and a significant restocking of explosives has since returned broken ore stocks to manageable levels, the company said.

The company also said it has named Dresdner Australia Ltd to underwrite a US$60 million corporate finance facility to initially refinance the Mount Muro project finance facility.