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OceanaGold says Macraes failure temporarily suspends production, minimal impact anticipated

Published: 01:26 22 Apr 2014 AEST

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OceanaGold Corporation (TSE:OGC) (ASX:OGC) (NZX:OGC) said a problem at its Macraes mine in New Zealand has led open pit production to be temporarily suspended. 

Over the weekend, the company said that a section of the west wall at its Macraes open pit failed after a heavy rainfall, emphasizing that there were no personnel working at the time of the failure. 

Access to the underground mine was cut off, but the underground mine itself was not impacted, and all personnel from this area were brought safely to surface, the gold miner said.

The company is working closely with authorities to investigate the incident, which has suspended production from the open pit on a temporary basis so OceanaGold can develop a new plan for the operation and further review the failure.

OceanaGold said it expects this review to be completed over the next few weeks. Work has already begun to re-establish a road to the underground mine entrance, with production from this area expected to resume by the end of this week. 

The company anticipates a minimal impact on near-term production as a result of this situation, and said that ore is currently being drawn from stockpiles. 

The gold producer, with mines on the south Island of New Zealand and in the Philippines,  expects to produce 275,000 to 305,000 ounces of gold from the combined New Zealand and Philippine operations in 2014, and 21,000 to 24,000 tonnes of copper from the Philippine mine. 

Its Macraes goldfield is New Zealand's largest gold mining operation.

Shares of OceanaGold were up by one penny in Toronto on Monday morning, at C$2.32.

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