First Uranium 3Q Gold Sales Down 5%

(REUTERS) -- First Uranium's third-quarter gold sales dropped 5 percent and uranium production fell 14 percent from the prior quarter due to accidents at its Ezulwini mine in South Africa, and the miner cut its full-year gold production forecast.

First Uranium, whose Ezulwini mine was affected by three fatal accidents in the latter half of 2011, now sees 2012 gold production at 98,000-100,000 ounces, down from its earlier forecast of 105,000-115,000 ounces.

The Ezulwini mine would not achieve its prior target of 70,000-80,000 ounces of gold sales and 110,000-130,000 pounds of uranium sales for fiscal year 2012, the company said in a statement.

Gold sales in the third quarter fell to 38,548 ounces from 40,529 ounces in the second quarter.

Uranium production in the quarter was down at 30,887 pounds from 36,006 pounds in the second quarter, the company said.