Centerra Gold's Turkish Gold Mine Starts Commercial Production

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Canadian miner Centerra Gold announced that it has achieved commercial production at its Öksüt mine in Turkey.

The kick off commercial production at the Turkish gold mine comes after four months from the date it had poured first gold at the operation. The gold pour was achieved on January 31^st this year. The mine has two open pits- the Keltepe pit and Güneytepe pit, whose combined output is estimated at around 1.2 million contained ounces of gold during the initial eight years of mine life.

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Commenting on the landmark achievement, Scott Perry, Chief Executive Officer, Centerra Gold announced that the commercial production at Öksüt marks a major milestone for the company. The mine, located in the south central Kayseri province of Turkey, was delivered on time and under budget, he added.

With this, the Toronto-based miner now has three operating mine assets, the other two being the Mount Milligan Mine in British Columbia, Canada, and the Kumtor Mine in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The miner had reported quarterly gold production of 190,474 ounces across all its mines in Q1 this year, marginally higher when compared with 183,563 ounces in the same quarter a year before. This comprised of pre-commercial output of 4,486 ounces from the Öksüt mine during its start-up phase.