Avoca Resources Limited (AVO) announced a record 52,118 ounces of gold production for the June quarter from its 100% owned Higginsville gold project in Western Australia. The gold producer said it remains confident of producing over 190,000 ounces in the next financial year at an estimated cash operating cost of $468 per ounce.

In its first year as a gold producer Avoca said it produced 130,594 ounces due in large part to the June quarter result.

The company said plant recovery was high at 97.5% in the last quarter, while the improvement in head grade to 5.5 g/t was attributed to the commencement of mining the 1005 level of the Western Zone, and an increasing contribution from the Athena Lodes.

Avoca added that the estimated mine production from Trident during the period amounted to 267,449t @ 5.8 g/t gold for 49,823 ounces.

The company said the treatment capacity of the plant is exceeding the design of 250,000 tonnes per quarter and accordingly 37,141t of medium grade material at a grade of 3.0 g/t gold was treated in addition to the mined production during the quarter.

Managing director Rohan Williams said both the mining rate at Trident and the treatment rate at the plant are in excess of the 1 Mtpa designs, and the 5.3 g/t gold reserve grades.

“The June quarter result clearly highlights Trident’s achievement as a significant new high-grade underground gold mine, and the result is a testament to the excellent efforts of our site personnel at Higginsville, and the quality of our operations,” said Mr Williams.

At 1012 AEST, Avoca shares were down 1c to $1.83.