ASX- and TSX-listed Westgold Resources on Monday announced a substantial production guidance downgrade, prompted by engineering issues at the Beta Hunt and Bluebird-South Junction mines in Australia.

The company, which bought Karora Resources last year, lowered its production guidance to a range of 330 000 oz to 350 000 oz, from a post-merger guidance of 400 000 oz to 420 000 oz for the 2025 financial year.

The initial guidance was predicated on the simultaneous ramp-up of Beta Hunt to two-million tonnes a year and Bluebird-South Junction to 1.2-million tonnes a year. During the first half of 2025, the ramp-ups of both assets were slower than planned.

"Balancing short range targets with longer term shareholder returns is Westgold's objective. Optimisation of our expanded portfolio began in earnest in the second quarter of the 2025 financial year and disappointingly, engineering ramp-up issues constrained outputs from the Beta Hunt and Bluebird-South Junction underground mines,” said MD and CEO Wayne Bramwell.

At Beta Hunt, production was adversely affected by the need to undertake significant upgrades of primary ventilation, mine pumping systems (dewatering) and clean water supply. Westgold's capital investment strategy is systematically removing these productivity constraints to deliver higher production in the second half of the year and beyond.

At Bluebird-South Junction, the transition to a much larger tonnage, transverse stoping mining method in the South Junction lodes was slower than planned as a result of upgrading the ground support regime.

“Both mines are now regaining momentum as Westgold rectifies areas of historic underinvestment across the Southern Goldfields and accelerates the expansion of our key Meekatharra mine. We are systematically deploying capital across our portfolio to establish long term sustainable growth, with drilling and upgraded infrastructure set to make our largest mines larger and more productive with lower operating costs,” said Bramwell.

He added that Westgold’s output would continue to improve across the second half of the year, with production in the fourth quarter expected to reflect an annualised rate of 400 000 t/y.

Westgold has reduced its growth capital for the full year to $200-million with the prioritisation of projects delivering the highest return on investment.

The group’s all-in sustaining cost guidance has been adjusted to a range of $2 400/oz to $2 600/oz, from a previous target of $2 000/oz to $2 300/oz.