chaarat gold holdings ltd on friday reported lower production and higher costs for the third quarter of 2021 reflecting lower grades and fleet availability in july however the owner of the kapan gold mine in armenia remains on track to meet fullyear production guidance heres what the londonlisted company had to say following the strong h1 2021 results july 2021 was impacted by lower grades and fleet availability performance improved in august and returned to runrate performance in september chaarat is on track to meet the production guidance of 57koz1 for 2021 which will rely on a steady source of thirdparty ore supply for the remainder of 2021 production of 13224 gold equivalent ounces oz vs 15547 oz in q3 2020 149 as a result of lower mine rates in the mine plan and lower than expected grades allinsustaining cost aisc3 of usd1366 oz vs usd1192 oz in q3 2020 146 mainly driven by the lower produced ounces in july and august preliminary unaudited standalone ebitda contribution of usd26 million vs usd64 million in q3 2020 60 with the reduction due to managements decision to delay sales pending discussions with the government of armenia on their new metals export regulation and application to specific concentrate sales as well as the abovementioned factors around the mine performance 2021 drilling programmes completed with kyzyltash results published and tulkubash results expected in november 2021 kyzyltash core sample selection is underway in preparation for shipment to sgs canada inc for metallurgical testwork to commence later this quarter