News: SBM St Barbara cuts production guidance at Gwalia gold mine; shares tumble

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Gold miner St Barbara Ltd (SBM) on Friday revised lower production guidance for its flagship Gwalia project in Western Australia, sending its shares down more than 9% in their worst intraday percentage drop in nearly two months.

The Gwalia underground gold mine will produce between 175,000 and 190,000 ounces in full year 2020, instead of an initially expected 200,000-210,00 ounces, the company said in a statement.

The miner also revised upwards all-in sustaining costs at Gwalia for the full year 2020 to between A$1,390 and A$1,450 ($949.09 to $990.06) per ounce from A$1,230 to A$1,290 per ounce.

Also, the company warned of an increased capital expenditure related to Gwalia in full year 2020 of A$60 million to A$65 million, from the previously stated A$55 million to A$65 million.

St Barbara, which has operations in Canada and Papua & New Guinea as well, said it expects full year 2020 overall production to be in the range of 380,000 to 420,000 ounces, compared to 454,985 ounces it produced in the previous year.

Shares of the gold producer-explorer have declined about 39% so far this year, underperforming the broader gold index .AXGD , which has gained more than 28% during the same period. ($1 = 1.4646 Australian dollars)