S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gold share West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) is taking a fall today.
West African shares closed yesterday trading for $2.41. In morning trade on Wednesday, shares are changing hands for $2.32 apiece, down 3.7%. This leaves the share price up 63.4% since this time last year.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.3% today and up 9.4% over 12 months.
Here's what's catching investor interest today.
ASX 200 gold share slips on production dip
The ASX 200 gold share is in the red following the release of its June quarter (Q2 2025) production update.
West African reported total gold production from its Sanbrado Gold Operations Kiaka Gold Project of 45,611 ounces for the three months. That's down about 9% from the 50,033 ounces produced in the March quarter this year.
June quarterly gold sales came in at 49,840 ounces at an average price of US$3,282 per ounce. That compares favourably to first quarter gold sales of 48,338 ounces at an average price of US$2,832 per ounce.
The ASX 200 gold share reported that underground mined ounces at Sanbrado decreased by 13% quarter on quarter, "reflecting a 15% reduction in the mined grade partially offset by 3% more ore tonnes mined".
The miner's contained gold in ore stockpiles fell by 8%, or 8,348 ounces, over the three months.
However, management said that the Sanbrado production centre is on track to achieve its 2025 guidance of 190,000 to 210,000 ounces of gold at a site sustaining cost of less than US$1,350 per ounce.
Among the highlights of the quarter, the ASX 200 gold share's Kiaka project commenced operations with the first gold pour achieved in June.
West African Resources said that open-pit mining at Kiaka has ramped up as planned. Mill throughput is expected to ramp up during Q3 when grid power becomes available.
The miner reaffirmed Kiaka's production guidance for 2025 of 100,000 to 150,000 ounces of gold.
What did management say?
Commenting on the quarterly results pressuring the ASX 200 gold share today, West African CEO Richard Hyde said:
This has been a transformative quarter for WAF with our large, long-life, low cost Kiaka gold project now operational alongside our Sanbrado gold operation, which continued its strong reliable performance in Q2 with gold production of 45,611 ounces.
Sanbrado is on-track to achieve annual production guidance of 190,000 to 210,000 ounces in 2025, and Kiaka's 2025 production guidance remains at 100,000 to 150,000 ounces.
West African Resources is scheduled to release its full quarterly activities report in the coming weeks.
