CANADA-BASED junior gold producer has revealed that production over the quarter ended December last year was down 12 percent due, in part, to labour disputes and power supply problems at some of its operations.

In a statement Thursday the company, which operates gold minds in Kadoma, the Matabeleland and Midlands region said production was down 11.6 percent compared to the previous three months to September.

The company said a labour dispute at Dalny Mine in Kadoma as well as power supply problems which also affected Old Nic which is located near Bulawayo had negatively affected overall group performance.

“The power and ore issues at the Dalny Mine continued into January 2013 and were exacerbated by the effect of an illegal work stoppage during the second half of January.  The transformer failure that occurred in mid-December 2012 was remedied during January 2013, and full power was available by February 1, 2013," the company said.

“Although underground operations at the Dalny Mine are increasing as the Company gains access to lower levels, sourcing of adequate material for processing continues to be a challenge. As a result of these various factors, it is anticipated that operations at the Dalny Mine during the quarter ending March 31, 2013 are likely to be adversely affected.

“Electrical supply problems that have been encountered at the Old Nic Mine since its acquisition in 2010 were finally solved in late December 2012 with the installation of continuous power supply by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority.”

Apart from the Dalny and Old Nic operations, New Dawn also owns Venice Mine near Kadoma, Camperdown and Golden Quarry in the Midlands as well as Turk and Angelus mine, some 56km away from Bulawayo.

Managament however, warned that further development of exploration programmes depended on access to “adequate debt and/or equity” financing which would be determined by the successful finalisation of its indigenisation plan.

“The company's operations and development plans could also be impacted by various other factors, including, for example, the world price of gold, taxes and royalties, mining fees, power and labour costs, and potential changes to the legislative and regulatory environment in Zimbabwe,” management said.