Westgold shares tumble on revised production guidance

The news: Shares in Westgold Resources plunged in morning trade after the gold miner revised its full-year FY24 production guidance.

The numbers: Westgold shares were down 13.7% to $2.39 by 11:30am AEDT.

The WA-based miner had earlier lowered its production guidance to 220,000 to 230,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $2,100 to $2,300. Last month, the company reaffirmed production and cost guidance of 245,000 to 265,000 ounces at $1,800 to $2,000 per ounce.

In its preliminary results for the third quarter, Westgold said it produced 52,100 ounces of gold with an average sale price of $3,137 an ounce. The company also noted that despite production being impacted by the operational pause at its Meekatharra site and poor weather conditions across its operations, cash and bullion holdings increased by $9 million during the quarter, with the group total reaching $247 million.

The context: Westgold's managing director and CEO Wayne Bramwell said that despite a "very trying quarter", the miner delivered five consecutive quarters of cash build. Bramwell explained that while several factors negatively impacted the company's outputs during the quarter, Westgold's "prime driver is free cash flow", rather than "maximising total production at all costs".