Regis Resources resumes Duketon operations except Rosemont process plant after fatality
The Rosemont process plant remains suspended, with no restart date or production-impact estimate disclosed in the Nov. 9 update.
Mara Quinlan
Regis Resources Ltd ASXRRL said in a Nov. 9 announcement that all Duketon operations except the Rosemont process plant had resumed following a contract worker's death on Nov. 6. The interruption affected a gold operation that produced 56,100 ounces out of the group's 83,000 ounces in the September quarter.
Regis shares ASXRRL rose 0.75 per cent to A$6.68 on the Australian Securities Exchange at 10:06 a.m. AEDT on Monday.
Regis said operations across Duketon were suspended immediately after the incident, which occurred at the Rosemont process plant within Duketon South. The other operations resumed following a staged restart under the site's incident recovery plan.
The announcement did not provide a restart date or conditions for reopening Rosemont, quantify lost production or announce a change to production guidance. It identified the process plant as the remaining shutdown, rather than reporting a continuing suspension across Duketon.
"We are working closely with WorkSafe and other relevant authorities, as they carry out their investigation to understand what happened," Regis said in the announcement.
The company said the contract team member was fatally injured while carrying out work at Duketon South. It did not describe the task being performed or identify a cause of the incident in the announcement.
Regis said assistance programs had been activated and that it was providing support wherever possible to those affected. The statement was authorised by managing director and chief executive Jim Beyer.
Regis is an Australian gold producer whose Duketon operations combine open-pit and underground mining. Its Oct. 20 quarterly report said September rainfall disrupted open-pit mining and ore haulage to the mills, requiring the use of lower-grade stockpiles.
Duketon's September-quarter production was below the June quarter's 62,500 ounces. The operation generated A$175 million in operating cash flow in the September quarter, compared with A$265 million for the group.
The Duketon mills processed 1.96 million tonnes of ore in the September quarter, with gold recovery of 89.6 per cent. Regis did not provide a Rosemont-specific production figure in the Nov. 9 update.
The report said Duketon's production was expected to be weighted toward the second half of the financial year as new open pits ramped up. That outlook predated the fatality and the subsequent shutdown.
The Nov. 9 statement did not estimate how the Rosemont interruption would affect that operating plan. It also did not give a timetable for the investigation or the next operational update.
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Regis's next scheduled shareholder meeting is its annual general meeting on Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. AWST in Subiaco, Western Australia.
