Serabi Gold PLC shares tumbled on Tuesday, after it announced gold production has taken a hit during the first quarter, consequently lowering its full-year production guidance.

The Brazil-focused gold miner said gold production in the first quarter at Palito was 7,062 ounces, which was down 13% year-on-year from 8,087 ounces.

Shares in Serabi fell 14% to 50.90 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

Total ore mined was 40,606 tonnes at 6.0 grammes per tonne of gold, compared to 40,371 tonnes at 6.3 grammes per tonne of gold a year before.

It said that continued supply chain issues were behind the decline, as well as ‘greater-than-expected’ dilution from long-hole open stoping at the Julia Vein of the Sao Chico orebody. This was due to the presence of parallel and cross-cutting faults, and intrusive dykes, which appear to be unique to the Julia Vein, Serabi noted.

Shrinkage stoping has been adopted to remedy the issue, but will result in delayed production.

Accordingly, Serabi has lowered its production guidance for 2022 to 30,000 ounces, down from a previous range of between 36,000 and 39,000 ounces.

‘At Palito, the first-quarter production results have been disappointing with 7,062 ounces produced, and while March was a significantly better month with improved grades and production, it was not possible to recover earlier shortfalls in planned production due to delays in receiving new mining fleet which while ordered in mid-2021 are only now built and becoming available for delivery,’ explained Chief Executive Officer Mike Hodgson.

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