GOLD MINING: San Gold, Timmins Gold set quarterly production records

MANITOBA and ONTARIO - Two of Canada's smaller gold miners, San Gold of Winnipeg and Timmins Gold of Vancouver, have reached record levels of gold ounces produced during the last quarter of 2011.

San Gold produced 20,359 oz of gold in Q4 from its underground Rice Lake, MB, mines and has an additional 4,000 to 5,000 oz stockpiled in front of the mill. During the last month of the year after milling and crushing upgrades, a new daily mill record of 1,865 tonnes was set, compared to the beginning of 2011 when the mill was handling 752 t/d. Based on the December output of 8,388 oz, the company believes it will produce 100,000 oz of gold in 2012. (SanGold.ca)

Rather than Canada, Timmins Gold is focused on Mexico, particularly the San Francisco heap leach gold mine in Sonora. The company's quarterly production was 21,524 oz of gold, including a record-setting December when 8,504 oz were recovered. Part of the rise was due to a jump in the gold recovery rate to 65% from 55% for Q4 2010. (TimminsGold.com)