BY BUSINESS REPORTER
AFRICAN Barrick Gold (ABG0) said it will fall short of its 2011 production target because of escalating power disruptions to national grid electricity supply in Tanzania.
The FTSE 250 miner said it had lost an estimated 35,000-40,000 ounces of gold production this year due to power related issues with most of the disruption affecting its Buzwagi mine.
"The escalation of these power related issues during Q4, with up to 5 or 6 daily outages at Buzwagi, has meant that the expected quarterly production run rate at the mine will not be achieved and as a result we are likely to fall just short of 700,000 ounces of gold production in 2011," it said on Friday.
The company had expected to produce between 700,000 and 760,000 ounces of gold this year.
The miner said it has now installed additional diesel generated back-up power at the Buzwagi mine and plans to operate this back-up power at full capacity throughout December.
Diesel generated power is typically more expensive than electricity suppled from the national grid.
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