Key Highlights

  • Group gold production was 127,950 ounces in the September quarter.
  • Sales were 135,245 ounces at a realised price of US$4,240 per ounce.
  • Kiaka produced 76,030 ounces, a 13 per cent increase on the previous quarter.
  • Full-year 2026 production guidance is 430,000 to 490,000 ounces.

West African Resources Ltd (ASX:WAF) now runs two mines in Burkina Faso, and permits and explosives Supply are shaping its next phase. Why are permits and explosives, rather than gold grades, the main talking point for West African Resources at the moment? Because the company now runs two mines in Burkina Faso, and its latest quarterly update shows output is rising while an unfinished approval and a tight supply of blasting materials still limit how smoothly the larger of those mines can operate.

The September 2026 quarter in numbers

On 8 October 2026, West African Resources (ASX:WAF) reported group gold production of 127,950 ounces for the September quarter, which management described as a record. Sales were 135,245 ounces at a realised price of US$4,240 per ounce. For the first nine months of 2026, production totalled 360,857 ounces and sales 350,127 ounces at an average realised price of US$4,550 per ounce.

Those figures sit against full-year 2026 production guidance of 430,000 to 490,000 ounces, first issued on 31 March 2026. The company says it remains on track. Simple arithmetic shows why: after 360,857 ounces in nine months, only about 69,000 more ounces in the final quarter would reach the bottom of the range, against 127,950 ounces in the latest quarter. Chief executive Richard Hyde said the current run rate is above 500,000 ounces a year, which would be above the top of the 2026 range if sustained.

The update did not include all-in sustaining costs, cash or debt. Those arrive with the full quarterly activities report, which the company said would follow within weeks, so any view on margins or the Balance Sheet should wait for that document.

Two mines, two different stories

Sanbrado, the original operation, produced 51,920 ounces in the quarter, down about 10 per cent on the June quarter as plant throughput fell 9 per cent. The mill processed 716,000 tonnes at a head grade of 2.4 grams per tonne with 94.7 per cent recovery.

Kiaka is the growth engine. It produced 76,030 ounces, a 13 per cent increase on the previous quarter, with throughput up 15 per cent to 2.87 million tonnes at a modest 0.9 grams per tonne and 93.1 per cent recovery. Kiaka is a low-grade, high-volume operation, so its profitability depends heavily on tonnes moved, unit costs and the gold price rather than on rich ore. That makes any constraint on Mining rates, such as explosives, directly relevant to results.

Management reported that the M5 South underground at Sanbrado has now been approved in an updated life-of-mine plan by the Government of Burkina Faso, and development has started. Stoping is scheduled for early in the second half of 2027, and the company expects minimal impact on 2027 production. In the June quarter update, that approval had still been pending and underground production was described as starting in early 2027, so the timeline has moved later even though the permit has now arrived.

The explosives bottleneck

The less comfortable part of the update concerns Kiaka's explosives facility. The permit to operate the explosives Manufacturing and storage Facility has not yet been approved. In the June quarter, a shortage of explosives had already reduced open-pit output at Kiaka, and the company responded by sourcing supply elsewhere, steering the mine plan towards free-dig material and cutting waste stripping at Kiaka and Toega.

By September, supply had improved after a second supplier was engaged, but the company still describes it as an operational bottleneck. Reduced waste stripping can lift near-term ounces but typically brings forward a larger stripping requirement later, so investors should watch whether deferred waste work shows up in future costs.

Government relationship and ownership

Burkina Faso is a higher-risk jurisdiction, and permitting pace, fuel and consumables supply, and fiscal terms are the most visible risks. In the June update, the company said the state-owned entity SOPMIB was finalising the purchase of a 25 per cent stake in Kiaka SA for 70 billion CFA francs, about A$176 million at the time. West African Resources holds 85 per cent of Kiaka and the state 15 per cent today, so completion would change the economic split.

Sector context

Gold producers have benefited from realised prices that, on the company's own numbers, were around US$4,200 to US$4,750 per ounce through 2026. The realised price fell from US$4,556 in the June quarter to US$4,240 in the September quarter, a reminder that Revenue per ounce can move materially even when production is rising.

Among ASX-listed gold producers, West African Resources is notable for its concentration: nearly all production comes from one country and two sites. At roughly 430,000 to 490,000 ounces this year, the company is a mid-tier producer with meaningful Operating Leverage to price and volume.

What to monitor

Several items will shape the next few months. The first is the full quarterly report, which should show all-in sustaining cost, cash, Debt and Capital spending, allowing an assessment of how much of the record production is converting into free cash flow. The second is the Kiaka explosives permit and whether the second supplier arrangement remains reliable. The third is progress on the M5 South underground and the Toega pit, which together underpin the mine plan beyond 2026.

The fourth is the SOPMIB transaction and any shift in the relationship with the Burkina Faso government. The fifth is how 2027 guidance compares with the current run rate, since the chief executive's comment on annualised output sets a reference point that the market will test when guidance is issued.

In short, the September quarter showed operational momentum at Kiaka and a regulatory step forward at Sanbrado, alongside an unresolved permit and a supply dependency that keep execution risk in focus.