Machinery issues see Gruyere production stumble again

No sooner had the Gruyere gold mine bounced back from its weather-related issues of a year ago when machinery issues have struck to cause more production woe.

Shares in Gold Road Resources were down 4.5 per cent in early trade on Tuesday after the 50:50 joint venture partner in the mine 160km north-east of Laverton informed the market that March quarter output would be lower than the record December period.

Gold Road said Gruyere would produce 70,000 to 73,000 ounces of gold this quarter because of maintenance on the primary crusher and the failure of two conveyor belts.

The company did say 2025 annual production and cost guidance was unchanged at 325,000oz-355,000oz at an all-in sustaining cost of $2400/oz-$2600/oz.

South African giant Gold Fields is the other company involved in the joint venture and is the mine operator.

Gold Road said the Gruyere JV had investigated the cause of the mechanical issues and developed recovery plans, and mining continued to ramp up as planned and was currently at an annualised rate of about 72 million tonnes per annum, with further improvement anticipated.

The latest developments come after the mine appeared to have shrugged off the consequences of the massive rainfall event of last March, which cut off road access to the west and halted operations during last April.

Gruyere produced 287,270oz in 2024, including a record 91,631oz in the December quarter.

This was a significant improvement on previous quarterly production of 68,781oz (September), 62,535oz (June), and 64,323oz (March).

Gold Road broke several of its financial records in the 2024 calendar year, posting its best-ever net profit after tax of $142.2 million on record revenue from gold sales of $528m.

The company also had record earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the 12-month period of $294.4m, and record operating cash flow for the 12 months to December 31 of $250.6m.

Shares in Gold Road were down 13¢, or 4.9 per cent, to $2.51 at the close on Tuesday.