Aug 4 (Reuters) - Gold miner Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd SAR.AX said on Tuesday it expected to produce between 380,000 ounces and 400,000 ounces of gold next year at its Carosue Dam and Thunderbox mines in Western Australia, propelled by a rise in reserves.
Saracen posted a 12% rise in gold reserves at the end of June to a "record" 3.7 million ounces for the mines. The reserve calculation was based on a gold price of A$1,750 ($1,245.65) an ounce.
The 2021 production guidance for the two mines will come at an all-in sustaining cost of between A$1,200 and A$1,300 an ounce, the company said in a statement.
The Carosue Dam and Thunderbox mines together produced nearly 387,000 ounces of gold this year at an all-in sustaining cost of A$1,101 per ounce, according to the company's fourth-quarter production report released last month.
Robust reserves "ensure we have long-term, sustainable production in what is almost certainly the best place in the world to be a gold miner. This in turn means we can lower costs and help to insulate the business," Managing Director Raleigh Finlayson said.
Saracen also intends to invest in further growth by allocating A$43 million for exploration this financial year, added Finlayson.
The Perth-based company said it planned to ramp up production to 450,000 ounces a year starting from 2023 and expected growth capital of A$185 million for Carosue Dam and Thunderbox in 2021.
Shares of the gold miner rose as much as 1.8% to A$6.34 in early trade.
($1 = 1.4049 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by A K Pranav in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
((Pranav.AK@thomsonreuters.com; +918061823270;))
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