Good morning and afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to OceanaGold 2021 Q3 results webcast and conference call. At this time, all lines are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require muted assistance, please press star zero for the operator. Also note this call is being recorded on Thursday, October 28th at 5:30 PM Eastern Time. I would like to hand the conference over to Sam Pazuki. Please go ahead, Sam.
Thanks so much, Sylvie. Good evening, good morning. Welcome to OceanaGold's Q3 2021 results webcast and conference call. I am Sam Pazuki, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development for OceanaGold. I am joined today by Scott Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer and Interim CEO, Scott McQueen, Chief Financial Officer, Sharon Flynn, EVP Sustainability, David Londono, EGM Haile Operation, David Way, EGM Philippines and New Zealand, and Craig Feebrey, EVP Exploration. Moving on to slide number two. Before we proceed, note that the references in this presentation adhere to International Financial Reporting Standards and all financial figures are denominated in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. Also note that the presentation contains forward-looking statements which, by their very nature, are subject to some degree of uncertainty. There can be no assurances that our forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as future results and events could differ materially.
I refer you to the disclaimers on the forward-looking statements in our presentation. I will now turn it over to Scott Sullivan to walk you through the key highlights of the quarter. Over to you, Scott.
Thanks, Sam. Good evening, good morning to all. It's a pleasure to be with you here today. Firstly, I'd like to add that it's wonderful to be with OceanaGold, a company with a long and rich history in the gold mining industry. Although I've only had my feet on the ground here for the past five weeks or so, I've been really impressed with the quality and potential of the assets in the portfolio and the highly talented workforce that we have throughout the organization and the strong shareholder base. You do understand we have work to do to retain market credibility and our reputation in the gold mining industry as a business that generates healthy margins, returns capital to shareholders and makes prudent capital investments on high-margin growth opportunities.
Although early days for me here, I am very confident in the long-term future of the business. What I can assure the investment community is that together with the board, the executive management team and employees across the organization, we are fully aligned and committed to improving our operational performance and delivering long-term sustained value to shareholders. If we look at slide three. Looking back at the Q3, I'm pleased with the financial performance of the business, and it further reflects the importance of having a diversified portfolio of assets. We've delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of improved profitability, primarily related to the renewal of the FTAA, paving the way for gold-copper concentrate sales from Didipio, and continued strong performance at Haile.
The Didipio restart activities continue to progress well, despite the sometimes restrictive measures that we have enforced in the quarter to safeguard the health and well-being of the workforce following an increase in COVID-19 positive cases. We are pleased to achieve some key milestones in the Q3 and in the beginning of the Q1. In Q3, we begun underground mining at Didipio a month ahead of schedule with ore development. The ore is being delivered to the ROM pad ahead of milling, which we expect to begin mid-November. Secondly, we successfully completed the transportation of the gold-copper concentrate inventory on hand on October 2nd. We invoiced over $60 million in revenue and received approximately $38 million in cash as at the end of the Q3.
Third, we have achieved a critical mass in our recruitment efforts that has allowed us to achieve these milestones and continue to progress restart activities. At Haile, we delivered a stronger than expected Q3, mainly a function of better than expected grades out of our Ledbetter Phase 1 pit. With the stronger year-to-date performance, we are again increasing our guidance range at Haile and now expect the operation to deliver 175,000-180,000 ounces of gold. We continue to advance the Haile technical review that will culminate in a new mine plan expected to be completed in the H1 of 2022. We're pleased to maintain our consolidated full-year guidance, which again reflects the importance of having a diversified portfolio of assets.
We are expecting higher production from Haile and Didipio to offset the softer production forecast now for the New Zealand operations. Moving on to the next slide. We are very pleased to see Didipio contributing again to the business with Q3 sales of over 19,000 ounces of gold and 3,400 tons of copper. Consolidated production year-on-year was driven higher by Haile and partially offset by Macraes. Third quarter production was expected to decrease quarter-on-quarter and was in line with our expectations as Haile delivered a better than expected performance, while the New Zealand operations were impacted mainly by the nationwide lockdown.
All-in sustaining costs for the quarter and year to date decreased over the previous reporting periods, which was mainly a function of higher sales volumes, partially offset by higher operating costs and increased capital investments, mainly related to the Haile expansion, Martha underground ramp-up at Waihi, and pre-stripping at both Haile and Macraes. Financial results for the quarter were solid and driven mainly by Didipio gold and copper sales and continued strong performance at Haile. Our adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.07, which were in line with estimates. Our cash flow per share came in at $0.12 before working capital movements and excluding the physical delivery of the remaining gold ounces as a part of the 2020 gold prepayment arrangement. I'll now turn the presentation over to David Londono, EGM at Haile, to walk you through the half results. Thank you, Steve.
Thank you, Scott, and hello, everyone. Moving on to slide five. We had a very good quarter of gold production at Haile, with nearly 46,000 ounces produced. This was above our expectations. We delivered expected grade mining out of Ledbetter Pit. While the grade reconciliation was about 20% higher than predicted, we believe this is a near-term benefit that we fully expect to align more closely to the resource model going forward. Mining operations are mainly at Ledbetter Phase 1. In the Q3, we were focused on waste, keeping ahead of increased ore mining going forward. As we progress through this stage of Ledbetter, we will go through a period of materially lower grades, which we expect to continue to see for the H1 of the next year. Mining rates are steady.
However, we continue to be limited by the permitted quarry, allowing for additional all-in sustaining costs increased quarter-over-quarter, mainly due to increased prospecting capital, which is tracking higher than originally guided. This reflects the higher allocation of mining costs to capital than previously forecasted, but the amount of total spend is unchanged. In the year-to-date performance, we have increased our production guidance on Haile for the second time this year. We now expect Haile to deliver a full year gold production between 175,000 and 180,000 ounces. Despite the reclassification of mining expense to capital, the all-in sustaining cost guidance remains unchanged at $1,100-$1,150 per ounce sold, while cash costs have decreased to $650-$700 per ounce sold. Moving on to slide 6. We continue to progress the Haile technical review.
This review is intended to maximize cash flows from the operation and maximize the value of the asset. We're already implementing changes to the operation which will begin to bear fruit over the near term. I do expect some more quick wins. However, some changes are more structural in nature and will take some time to implement. The primary focus areas of the technical review are as follows, trucking costs, capital allocation, water management, tailings and waste management, and employee mobility. More specifically, on the mining front, we're starting to see the benefits of changes that we've made so far, such as improving haul roads, map complete, and road drainage. Unlike the past, when mining operations shut down during heavy rainfall, we don't stop now. We continue mining unless there is inclement weather such as hurricane or lightning.
The improvements to the roads have also doubled the life of the haul truck tires, which just six months ago were averaging 10,000 hours and now averaging over 6,000 hours. My target is to achieve 7,500 hours in the medium term. My expectation is that these changes will drive maintenance costs lower and increase mine utilization rates by increasing productivity. Last year, mine utilization was in the mid-60s%. We're now at the mid-70s%, and my objective is to achieve mine utilization rates in the mid-80s%. Mining operations were previously driven by volume. This is how coal mines work. Haile is a gold mine, and the ore body is geometrically complex and does not lend itself well to a gold mining approach. We will refocus our efforts on the quality of the ore we mine and deliver to the processing plant.
Going forward, we will be implementing an RC drilling program for ore grade control and to improve tag waste specification. We will configure at least one of the shelves to a backup configuration as well to be able to mine more selectively. These efforts will be designed to reduce ore dilution and optimize tag waste that we are required to deposit in company's lined waste facilities. Over the near term, particularly as we continue to wait for the FTAA permits, we do need to continue managing some critical aspects of our mine operations. One is water management and the other one is waste management. First, on water management.
We are limited by the capacity of the water treatment plant, and given that the rainfall history of Haile is well documented, we know that we have a considerable amount of water that needs to be discharged. The weather has been cooperative this year, which has helped greatly. We have also added evaporators and will be purchasing more units later this year. These units will reduce our water levels by approximately 30%, which again is very significant. With the SEIS, we'll be able to expand the water treatment plant and discharge higher rates of water. Until then, we have to move water around and at least for next year, we have to slow mining efforts due to restricted access to lower benches.
On the waste management front, our mining approach to date has produced more hard waste than in some aspects, mostly due to the way hard waste material has been classified in our permits. As I mentioned, with more selective mining, we can reduce the hard waste over the life of the mine even below the levels assumed in last year's technical report. Additionally, we will work with the regulators to demonstrate with the use of scientific data the reclassification of some of the potentially acid-generating material so that we can store this waste safely in traditional waste storage facilities. While we wait for the SEIS, we have to store hard waste in inactive pits and handle more than necessary. These factors have been considered, operating unit costs being higher than expected or reflected in the technical report.
We will always work to drive operational efficiencies and lower costs. However, we are focused on controlling costs by meeting these restrictions and ensuring we're being realistic on what we can drive our costs down to as part of the technical review. The unit cost assuming last year's technical report will be difficult to achieve. However, they will also not be too far from cost mark. Either way, the mine plan will assume achievable cost assumptions which will increase our ore grades and increase the ore grades that result in the reclassification of some of the mineral reserves. Again, I will reiterate both that we will not be mining marginal ounces or ounces that destroy value.
We will be more selective in what we mine and process so that we generate some free cash flows and sufficiently adjust the returns to shareholders to maximize the value of the assets. For me, I will not be measured by how many ounces of gold we produce at Haile. I will be measured by how much free cash flow we generate. This is the culture that I'm instilling at Haile now. On the processing side, there is some work we will need to do. The plant capitalization improvements we have mentioned are expected to drive higher throughput rates and increasing mill utilization. It will help with blending of ore that will improve processing kinetics with an aim to improve 90% gold recoveries. We have made all the improvements already, such as increasing the emergency stop time from several hours to seven days.
This means if we have downtime of the primary crusher, the mill will continue to run. All in all, we expect to deliver a new life of mine plan in the H1 of 2022. Again, the implementation of changes is ongoing and the value realization is expected progressively over the next 18 months. Some of these changes are expected to deliver near-term value, while other changes are more structural in nature and will take additional time to implement and drive value over an 18-month period. Delivery of the new mine plan, I hope, will also depend on receipt of the SEIS and associated permits. Moving on to slide 7. The Haile SEIS process continues and the company now expects the final SEIS, the record of decision and ROD-related permits in the Q1 of 2022.
As I have laid out just a few minutes ago, these permits relate to the expansion of the operating footprints to accommodate waste profiles, expansion of the water treatment plant to allow for higher water discharge rates, as well as development of the Haile underground. Engagement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is ongoing as the company responds to inquiries received post-release of the draft SEIS. We have also worked closely with local stakeholders who are supportive of this proposal. Although we don't see any showstoppers and the process itself is complete as we await the decision, we have had to implement workarounds to accommodate water and waste.
Should the SEIS process continue to be delayed, we will have no choice but to slow down mining and, in the meantime, incurring mining costs related to waste rehandling and water management. We continue to engage with the regulatory agencies on a weekly basis. We have continued constructing surface infrastructure related to underground operations. We can develop the forecast. However, we require the SEIS permits to begin building the underground in 2009. Once underground, we expect to drill extensively to expand the current resources at Horseshoe and Palomino and retest new targets. We continue to see great potential for reserve and resource growth through underground targets. I will now turn the presentation over to David Way.
Thank you, David, and hello, everyone. On slide number eight. In New Zealand, the government announced a two-week nationwide lockdown to address the spread of COVID-19 in mid-August. This order impacted both of our New Zealand operations, which were essentially shut down for the duration of the lockdown. On September 1st, we recommenced operations at both Waihi and Macraes in a staged approach, which aligned with the government COVID-19 measures. At Macraes, we produced 25,700 ounces of gold in the Q3, which decreased quarter-over-quarter due to the nationwide lockdown. The restart and ramp up of operations were slower than expected due to subsequent regional lockdowns impacting timing of supplies and movement of workers.
These included the gradual easing of restrictions from level four in a lockdown to level three, which still restricts access to the operation, and then to the current level two, which has some limited restrictions. The other complexity for us at Macraes this year is that we have had to weather geotechnical constraints at Coronation North and reduced throughput rates from planned and unplanned mill disruptions. We've essentially been playing catch up all year. The good news, however, is that full operations were restored at the end of the Q3. The process plant issues are behind us, evidenced by currently achieving record throughput rates. We are making good progress on mining across all fronts. I'm also pleased to announce that we have achieved first ore from the Golden Point Underground as planned.
With these improvements, high throughput rates, and better grades, we expect to deliver a rebound quarter to achieve our narrowed guidance range of 138,000-143,000 ounces of gold for the year. I'm also pleased to announce that late in the Q3, we welcomed Mike Fischer as the new General Manager for the Macraes operation. Mike has extensive mining experience, having recently worked in Mongolia and before that as President and General Manager of the Martabe mine. His extensive experience and leadership will serve the Macraes operation and OceanaGold well going forward. I'll now move on to slide nine. Waihi produced approximately 7,500 ounces of gold in the Q3. The Q3 production was also impacted by the two-week shutdown of all operations as part of the New Zealand government's mandated COVID-19 lockdown measures in August.
Ramp-up of operations was further impacted by ensuing regional lockdowns affecting the workforce, supplies, and equipment availability. Despite the lockdown, development at Martha underground progressed, with 2,185 meters of advance achieved for the quarter, even though impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown in August. Development continues to focus on the Rex, Royal West, and Edward mining areas. Production in Rex and the upper levels of Edward also began late in the quarter, with 6,600 tons of stope ore mined. Through the course of mining the Edward vein, we have experienced some negative reconciliation and have subsequently updated our resource model, which will affect our near-term production, particularly in the Q4. The two-week lockdown compounded the impact by deferring alternative high-grade panels to next year.
As a result, the Waihi mine is now expected to produce between 30,000 and 35,000 ounces of gold with a revised all-in sustaining cost guidance range of $1,525-$1,575 per ounce. We do not expect this to have a long-term impact on the operation. Its resource definition and grade control programs are advancing well. On the exploration front, the two-week lockdown meant no drilling during this period. For the quarter and much of the year, drilling continued to focus on the Martha underground, mainly for resource conversion and definition. At the Waihi North project, we had originally planned on drilling 10,000 meters at Wharekirauponga. However, the lockdown, along with an extended seasonal drought, means we will fall short of our drilling target.
The drilling we have completed this year at Wharekirauponga has focused mainly on resource conversion of the East Graben vein, with a step-out hole testing the extension of the East Graben structure along strike to the southwest. We continue to be very pleased with the drill results. Drilling this year has extended mineralization of the East Graben vein now with a 1.2 km strike. Drilling is also supporting the technical studies underway for the pre-feasibility study. Preparation for the lodgment of a consent application for the Waihi North project, inclusive of the Wharekirauponga underground mine, continues to progress, with environmental assessments nearing completion. Over the next two quarters, we will continue engagement with a broader group of stakeholders as part of the consenting process. We expect to lodge our formal consenting application, inclusive of stakeholder feedback, with the regulator within the H1 of 2022.
We continue to advance the technical studies as part of the consenting and pre-feasibility study work streams. Work is ongoing and supported by resource conversion drilling at Wharekirauponga. Although the pre-feasibility study is contemplated for completion in the H1 of 2022, we have increased the scope and may increase the scope further. Additionally, we are looking to permit a third drill rig to focus on extension drilling at Wharekirauponga to further enhance the project value proposition. The point is that the opportunity at Wharekirauponga is too compelling for us to rush through some of the work necessary to properly advance this project. The impact on the timing of such work is being considered and could result in extending the date of completion of the study. Turning to slide 10. I have recently returned from spending six weeks in the Philippines and at Didipio.
The Didipio restart activities continue to progress well, with key milestones achieved during the Q3 and into the Q4. These milestones include the following. Successful transport of the gold-copper concentrate, decommissioning of the primary crusher, and undertaking critical maintenance activities at the process plant, recommencement of underground mining, and delivery of underground ore to the ROM pad, which will continue to progress. In the Q3, Didipio recorded sales of 19,151 ounces of gold and 3,356 tons of copper. Also in the Q3, 1,096 ounces of gold and ore was sold, with remaining sales related to the gold-copper concentrate. At the end of the Q3, we had received approximately $38 million from the sale of the concentrate, representing approximately 60% of the total metal value of the full inventory.
The remaining funds will be received in the Q4. Improvement and training activities remain a critical path to restart and ramp up activities. These activities are tracking to plan, with recent recruitment activity having been slowed to address the increase in COVID-19 cases. Despite this, we do have a critical mass to safely ramp up operations. Improvement activities are ongoing and we continue to seek to achieve 90% recruitment of the complete workforce by the end of the year. Processing plant restart and ramp up activities continue to progress ahead of first mill feed expected in the middle of November 2021. In the Q3, we completed several key activities, including maintenance milestones of ball mill motor replacement, SAG and ball mill gearbox and lubrication system upgrades, relining of both the SAG and ball mills, and conveyor belt replacements.
In mid-September, the primary crushing circuit was successfully recommissioned, leading to the recommencement of crushing emergency stock feed. Currently, approximately 75% of the process plant restart activities have been completed. We are tracking to plan for the restart of milling expected in mid-November 2021. Underground mining restart activities continue to advance well, with continued and ongoing recruitment and training of underground operators, completion of safety inspections, upgrades to underground mine equipment, including pumping facilities, and the delivery of supplies and equipment. During the quarter, a Sandvik Rhino 100 mobile raise-bore rig and Sandvik TH663i underground haul truck were delivered successfully. Prior to the end of the quarter, we began underground mining activities, with the first two development cuts resulting in a total of 625 ore tons delivered to the ramp. The commencement of ore development is approximately one month ahead of schedule.
This sets sub-development to commence in November. Again, COVID-19 remains a risk to our restart and ramp up plans. Despite a jump in new cases in the Q3, everyone infected recovered without any serious illness. We continue to manage the risk and we are working with local authorities to facilitate vaccinations. Our COVID-19 protocols for Didipio include testing and screening before mobilization and entry to the operation, precautionary isolation measures, regular rapid testing and screening of the workforce, and ensuring testing capability and capacity with efficient turnaround of results. Currently, approximately 70% of the OceanaGold Philippines workforce has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 55% of the workforce being fully vaccinated. For the Q4, Didipio is now expected to produce between 7,000 and 12,000 ounces of gold. This was previously 5,000- 10,000 ounces.
Expected to produce 1,000 tons of copper, with the range reflecting the ongoing risks noted. For the full year, Didipio gold sales are expected to range between 25,000 and 30,000, which was previously 23,000-25,000. While copper sales are now expected to range between 4,500 and 5,000 tons. 2021 all-in sustaining cost is now expected to be between $100 and $150 per ounce sold. Moving on to slide 11. Here we have a couple of photos, one of the first cuts taken underground and the other illustrating the resumption of crushing. We are very pleased with the progress at Didipio and look forward to providing additional progress updates to the market. I'll now turn it over to Scott McQueen to walk you through the financial performance of the business.
Thank you, David, and hello, everyone. Over the next few slides, we'll cover the key elements of our Q3 and year-to-date financial results. I've already mentioned, and I'm also pleased to report, this quarter represents the fourth consecutive quarter of improved profitability for the company, noting also that the prior quarter was one of the most profitable in the past three years. Adjusted net earnings for the quarter are $53 million, $0.07 per share. This takes the year-to-date adjusted net earnings to $116 million, $0.16 per share, fully diluted. Quarter-on-quarter improvement in profitability was driven by the value realization on the GCSO inventory, the majority of which we managed to transport and invoice within the Q3, which was ahead of plan.
Approximately $17 million or just over $0.02 per share was related to one-time tax charges on the recognition of tax losses and other temporary differences as we repatriated revenue in the Philippines. While gold sales from Haile were lower quarter-over-quarter and did exceed expectations, which partially offset a weaker performance in the New Zealand operations, but both were impacted by nationwide COVID-19 lockdowns. We are looking for a material rebound of both New Zealand operations in the Q4. At Haile, the Q4 sales are expected to reflect the existing grade profile. The GTTO sales are also to reduce, given the bulk of the inventory was invoiced in Q3. However, the production ramp will continue and have more significant and sustained contribution into 2022.
The combination of these operational factors, noting the one-time $16 million tax that we did recognize in Q3, means we do expect a softer final quarter in terms of underlying group profitability. Operating cash flow increased $33 million this quarter, while AISC was in line with the prior quarter. The Q3 included a low level of prepaid sales which totaled $17 million, as compared with approximately $60 million in the prior quarter. We completed the final physical deliveries into the prepay in July, and the balance stands today, and at the end of the quarter, we have no hedging contracts in place. Investing cash flow increased slightly to $83 million, representing the highest quarter of investment we expect for the year. Year to date cash flow for investing activities has totaled $236 million, higher capitalized mining costs and gross capital investment to Haile.
The continued ramp-up of the Martha and Golden Point Underground and ongoing exploration. Financing cash flow in the Q3 included the drawdown of $50 million from the revolving credit facility as we move through the low point in the liquidity cycle. Hence, the monetization of the GTO inventory and shifting focus there to the ramp-up of operations. As advised during the July broadcast, also at the beginning of the Q3, we did close an additional $30 million short-term working capital facility, which remains undrawn. Operating cash flow, including working capital movements, equated to $0.12 per share for the quarter, bringing the year-to-date cash flow to $0.64, fully diluted. Moving on to slide 13, we're gonna talk about our capital investment.
Consolidated capital expenditure in the Q3 was $91 million, a slight decrease quarter-over-quarter, with lower growth capital injections partially offset by our higher capitalized mining costs. Year-to-date capital expenditure of $255 million increased approximately 30% over the prior year, reflecting increased capitalized mining costs at Haile, Frasers Underground, along with the planned investments associated with the power expansion, development of the Martha underground at Waihi, and the Golden Point underground at Macraes. Ongoing exploration activities, principally focused in New Zealand. Third, the capital expenditure of approximately $52 million at Haile, primarily related to the ongoing expansion of mining operations, including construction of the third tailings storage facility wall with heavy earthworks, potentially acid-generating waste storage facilities.
The slide three strip at Haile is expected to be higher than originally guided, reflecting an allocation from mining costs to capital expenditure higher than previously forecast. As this is a reclassification, there's no change in total mining costs or impact on site assets. However, updated guidance does include a corresponding reduction in the forecast site unit cost, cash cost sorry, of approximately $200 per ounce, consistent with the increased allocation of operating costs to the balance sheet. The creation of capital expenditure of $18 million this quarter primarily related to capitalized mining associated with the development of the Deepdell open pit, plus additional slope development opportunities identified in phases underground. This quarter capital spend at Waihi of approximately $7 million related to the now completed dragline upgrade, along with the ongoing development of Martha underground.
We're also focused on enhancing our capital allocation program to ensure we are generating increased cash flow. We expect 2021 will be a growth capital year. However, with budgeting and planning in full swing, combined with the ongoing technical review at Haile, we won't have the full details for 2022 until early next year. Moving on to slide 14, which includes a bit more on the balance sheet. As at September 30th, you can see our cash balance stood at $113 million, with total immediately available liquidity of $143 million. Total net debt was approximately $257 million. The quarter-over-quarter increase in cash reflects the drawdown of $50 million from the revolving credit facility and $38 million collected on the sale of GTTO's inventory.
We expect liquidity to remain relatively flat across the Q4, with improved free cash flow coming out of the New Zealand operations, including the receipts from the sale of the GTTO's inventory, offset by the GTTO ramp-up in production costs and the top quarter production at Haile.
Where grading is expected to be lower. Capital expenditure across the business is also expected to reduce in the Q4. As part of our capital allocation process, we are committed to and focused on increasing cash flow from every operation to support a balanced business, whether that returns capital to shareholders, reduces debt, and reinvests in high margin projects that will generate positive returns such as the [audio distortion]. I'll now turn the presentation over to Sharon Flynn to discuss our ESG efforts.
Thank you, Scott. Responsible mining is fundamental to the way we do business, and the health and safety of our workforce is a top priority. At the end of the Q3, 2021, OceanaGold reported a twelve-month mean moving average TRIFR of 3.9 per million hours. This is up from 3.7 per million hours at the end of the previous quarter. In the past quarter, there has been a strategic refocus on safety leadership to engage with the workforce, drive a sustained safety culture, and build on workplace hazard identification and injury prevention. In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the company continues to enforce workplace protocols to protect the health, safety, and well-being of employees and contractors. Since the commencement of the pandemic in March 2020, the company has recorded 378 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among employees and contractors globally.
This includes 186 new cases in the Q3 of 2021 at the Didipio and Haile operations combined. The continued risks related to COVID-19, the company has implemented additional controls for the Didipio operation, including rapid testing and precautionary quarantine requirements. We continue to encourage and promote employee access to vaccines, aligned, of course, with local government requirements. In the Philippines, we support local health agencies to secure additional vaccines, and we also sponsor community distribution. We continue to advance our key ESG initiatives to keep us at the forefront of best practice globally. We view ESG as an enabler of our business today and opportunities for tomorrow. In line with our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, we continue to work on hitting our 2030 interim targets. This includes better understanding of our direct and indirect energy consumption and our carbon footprint.
We are also undertaking physical and transitional risk assessments for each of our operating sites to understand how our business can be impacted by climate change, as well as other potential threats related to the transition pathway to net zero. We published our first standalone modern slavery statement in 2021, and in our 2020 sustainability report, we shared how we are knowing and showing our respect for human rights. In Q3, we continued implementation of human rights impact assessments across the company, launched an online training module, and continued development of our responsible supply chain approach. Work to align our tailings management systems to the global industry standard for tailings management has been progressed throughout the year, including review of corporate governance and accountability frameworks in Q3.
We continue to progress towards the goal of 100% compliance with the World Gold Council's Responsible Gold Mining Principles by the end of 2022. I will now turn it over to Scott Sullivan to wrap up.
Thanks, Sharon, and thanks, everyone for your updates. I'm going to conclude the presentation by highlighting our top priorities that we currently have in the organization. As I mentioned at the onset of this webcast, there are many aspects of our business that are working well, but we certainly got a lot of work ahead of us, and I can assure you that we are acutely focused on the task at hand, and we'll prioritize accordingly. With my feet on the ground now for about five weeks, I can say comfortably that I have yet to see a challenge within the organization to which we do not or will not have a solution. More importantly, as I've already stated, we have a highly talented workforce across the organization, and together we will work hard and smarter to rebuild credibility within the market.
To that end, we'll continue to restart and progressively ramp up our operations at Didipio while managing the risks associated with COVID-19. We expect underground mining activities to progressively increase to full mining rates within the next eight to nine months, and then we'll be at full production rate of 10,000 ounces of gold a month and 1,000 tonnes of copper a month at first quartile on our sustaining costs. I think we can all agree that it's a pretty good time to be a copper producer. As David Londono has mentioned, we're having a good year at Haile and expect to deliver on our increased guidance and continue to advance the technical review board to produce a new optimized mine plan. There will be some quick wins, but we'll progressively implement more structural changes that will be designed to deliver long-term sustained value for shareholders.
True to the company's stated operational strategy, Haile will be an operation that maximizes cash flows, not one that counts ounces for size or for the sake of producing ounces. At Waihi, we'll continue to ramp up farther underground while advancing our understanding of a multi-mine project. Wharekirauponga is too high potential to rush, and we'll look to expand the drill program there while advancing the project through the consenting process. We're on track to lodge our formal consenting applications over the next six months. Driving operational efficiencies will never be a one-time effort. We will relentlessly pursue opportunities to drive down our costs, our position on the cost curve. We will continue to manage the risk associated with inflation that's led to higher fuel costs, cost increase on some of our suppliers, such as reagents and materials.
In addition, we will proactively manage the risks on demand for labor, particularly as the country borders open up and world economies expand, to ensure that we've got the right people in the right roles, and not only that we are able to attract talent, but we are retaining them as well. Finally, and most importantly, we are currently reviewing and will enhance our capital allocation process, recognizing the importance of generating sufficient risk-adjusted returns and cash flows to shareholders. We'll prioritize our capital spend internally, balancing capital needs with returns to shareholders and servicing our debt obligations. I'm very confident and fully invested in regaining our status as a top gold mining company in the industry, and I know our executives and our workforces globally share my enthusiasm for the journey ahead. I'll now turn the call back over to Sam. Thanks, Sam.
Thanks, Scott. I will turn the logistics of the Q&A session to the operator.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you do have any questions at this time, please press star followed by one on your touchtone phone. You will then hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request. Should you wish to withdraw your question, simply press star followed by two. If you're using a speakerphone, we do ask that you please lift the handset before pressing any keys. Please go ahead and press star one now if you have any questions. Your first question will be from Matt Murphy at BMO. Please go ahead.
Hi. I have a question on Haile. Thanks for the update on the technical review and the operating philosophy. Just wondering, when you're talking about quality over volume, how we should think about that from a cut-off grade perspective. I think your reserves were at a 0.45 gram per ton cut-off. What are you mining to now?
Yeah, Matt, Sam here. Thanks for the question. I'll pass it on to David Londono in a second here to comment on that. Basically, we're still in the process of going through the Haile technical review, still going through what the appropriate cut-off grades would be. As David Londono mentioned, if you look back the last couple years or so, we've been really focused on mining, material, mining approach. We need to be more selective, basically, from the bottom line.
We are, you know, obviously getting a good handle on our costs, our cost base for Haile going forward, but we wanna make sure that we're using an appropriate cut-off grade, so that, again, we're maximizing cash flows from the asset as opposed to mining ounces that have the potential to destroy value. We don't, we certainly don't want that. We are, again, going through the throes of this Haile technical review. We are well advanced in that study work, and we will come out with additional information, particularly as we complete the new mine plan. David Londono, is there anything you'd like to add to that?
No, I think it's going pretty well. The only thing that I have to add in there is that, yeah, we're still using the ESM 0.45 sort of grade. We're mining grades that are well above that number. Whatever is coming down at that floor grade, we stockpile and we only use when we need to use it to keep the mill running. At volume versus quality, you know, like if you know the coal mines, you know, they wanna move tons and tons and tons. Like, here, yeah, we wanna move quality ounces. Those ounces will pay for themselves. That's, you know, not only for mining, but also for processing.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question will be from Ovais Habib at Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Thanks, operator. Hi, Scott. Ovais Habib, Scotiabank. Congrats on a good quarter, especially at Haile. Just a couple of questions from me, starting off with Didipio. Now, Didipio underground mining seems to be ahead of schedule. Doesn't look like you've moved your guidance for full underground ramp-up that's taking place in Q3 of next year. Are you just being cautious on COVID impacts and continuing COVID impacts and cleaning implementation or are there any other contingencies that you are building in to Didipio underground ramp up?
Yeah, thanks, Ovais, for the question. It's good to actually talk about Didipio and its recent operations. It's certainly great to have Didipio back in the portfolio and contributing in the way that it has thus far. We have made good progress with restart activities and the ramp-up, and we are ahead of schedule, as you just pointed out, with respect to the underground. As we've also pointed out, there are still some risks that we have to manage, particularly around COVID, and making sure that, again, we're protecting and safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our workforce. It's also hurricane season, so we do have to factor that in. To date, you know, progress has gone really, really well. We will continue to manage expectations going forward.
We've had a good start at Didipio. Maybe, Way, is there anything you wanna add to that?
That pretty much covers it. Thanks, Sam. I'll just point out, I mean, we have increased the guidance. Also in terms of scoping, scope production, that's still on track to commence-
mid-November, which of course only leaves six weeks for the year, and is also coincident with the start-up of milling as well, which is certainly not at maximum throughput either. Yeah, the guidance is there.
Just to add to that as well, Ovais Habib. Milling, we again expect to start in the middle of November. It'll be predominantly on the lower grade dump pile feed that we have on surface, which is 23 million tons at 0.3 grams gold, 0.2% copper. As the underground ramps up, we'll progressively supplement mill feed with the higher grade ore that's coming from the underground.
Okay. Thanks for that. Just for my next question is Haile. In terms of Haile SEIS, now it's expected in Q1 of next year. I think David kind of talked about a little bit about a plan B if it gets delayed further. Can you just reiterate what he pointed out and maybe give a little bit more color there?
Yeah. I'll pass it on to David in a second. As we said thus far, I mean, the SEIS process has taken a little bit longer than we expected. We do still have very good engagement with the regulator, and that's the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Carolina DHEC. Engagement's basically on a weekly basis as we respond to any inquiries we've had since the release of the draft SEIS. You know, we've had workarounds thus far with the operation, and we'll have to continue with the workarounds as we await the final decision and the associated permits associated with it. David, over to you just to provide a little bit more color.
Yes. The plan B if we don't get the SEIS in Q1 is that we're going to be storing some of the pyrite material in some of the open pits that are gonna be inactive, which means that we will handle that we would like to do and stay with the water we're trying to discharge and, you know, move the water through the process plant or through the evaporators. For the expansion, we depend on the SEIS. That would be the plan B for us and keep mining on the open pits.
Got it. Thanks, David. David, now you've been at Haile and kind of part of OceanaGold for the last three months or a little bit more here. Any kind of comments you can provide on, you know, you talked about some low-hanging fruit in terms of operational improvements at Haile. Can you talk a little bit more on the mining as well as processing side? I know you talked a little bit about water management and waste management. Just, you know, any other areas you can talk about in terms of, you know, improvements?
Yeah. You know, we're improving our fragmentation. With that, we have actually increased our throughput at the mill, going to what, you know, we wanna be producing about 3.5 million tons a year, going to 3.8. We're pretty much running at that rate right now, and that's as a result of the fragmentation. We are in the process of going all the way back to, you know, grade the rock as much as we can. Once we are comfortable with that we are at the right place, we can start optimizing the use of explosives. That's one big improvement that is already a quick win that we've already seen in the four walls. You know, we've seen an increase on the tire life.
We've seen an increase on productivity of the trucks. We've seen a decrease on damages, an increase on equipment availability. Those are very low-hanging fruits that we're just kind of going for them and making sure that we use them.
That, that's helpful. Everyone, thanks. That's it from me.
Thanks, Ovais.
Thank you.
Also reminder, ladies and gentlemen, if you do have a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Your next question will be from Farooq Hamed at Raymond James. Please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you, operator. David, I just wanna follow up on that last question that was asked. You're talking about the mill going to, you know, 3.8 million tons per annum. But in your prepared remarks, you also talked about mining more selectively and slowing down. Can you kind of square those two comments for us in terms of how you look at the mill and your ability to feed the mill or stop the mill, given, you know, this new kind of strategy or approach on the mining side?
Okay. In the past, we had to have, let's say, the targets for the mine were you're gonna move 45 million tons or X number of million tons, and the mill had different priorities. They were competing targets. The mine was mandated to move tons, and the mill would mill whatever they could get from the mine. We're changing that mentality. The mentality is we're gonna mine given areas where we have the ore, we're gonna mine selectively, even if we lose a little bit of productivity. We kinda make sure that we reduce dilution, that we mine better ore, the grade gets. We've seen a big improvement on the grade. You know, at the same time, keeping the mill full, which is our target.
The target is to be able to keep the mill full and the mine delivering what we can deliver.
Okay. Maybe another question for the two. I think you said in this quarter, your grade at Haile was about 20% above what you were expecting. Can you you know kind of give us some color on on how that happened? What what you know what was different from what you were expecting? Going forward how do you feel confident about you know kind of your mine-to-mill reconciliation in terms of you know what you should be expecting in terms of grade?
Earlier in the year, we converted one of our shovels into an excavator. We moved also from lower benches. Instead of mining at two-meter bench, where you get a lot of dilution, we're mining in benches. Instead of mining 10 meters one bench, we mine three benches at 3.3 meters each. That will help also reducing the amount of waste that we in terms of the ore, so we don't have to process that much waste. That won't give any money to us or any gold. That would be the biggest advantage of having that selectivity and improving the
that was what drove kind of the, that better grade this quarter than you were expecting?
That is correct. Because we're going full time at two benches at the front of the pit. Obviously what we have calculated as forecast grade, we came better than that. We see mainly because of the selectivity. Once we get into the next year and the next quarter, we should be able to predict the grade better and make sure that we mine what grade, you know, the grade that we said we were gonna mine. We should be closer to what we're predicting.
Okay. I understand. Maybe this is a question that's probably more for when the technical review comes out, but how do you see the impact on your mining costs by going to this more selective measure?
Obviously, first we're gonna be reducing the productivity ton of the pit. We're gonna increase the, you know, the loading and the loading costs. Also because of the amount of tag material that we're seeing that is more than what's in the model. That'll increase mining costs, too. Because we have to construct lined facilities to put that tag material. The rehandling of the tag material, the rehandling of the water. That's increasing the mining costs. Eventually, if we are able to reclassify the tag material, we're gonna see a reduction. In the meantime, we have to be realistic in that, you know, mining costs are going to increase compared to what we said in the technical review last year.
That will increase our throughput, which at the same time will probably reduce or convert some of our reserves into resources.
Okay. Thanks for all these answers. It sounds like there's a lot of opportunity and good work in executing over the next 18 months.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question at this time, please press star followed by one on your touchtone phone. At this time, we have no other questions. I would like to turn the call back over to Sam Pazuki.
Thank you, operator. Just a couple points of clarification as well. I mean, part of the mining unit costs at Haile is related to moving water around and also rehandling the tag waste. So as we get the SEIS permit, as we look at opportunities to reduce the amount of tag material that we generate, either through the RC drill program or as David Londono just mentioned, a reclassification of some of the yellow tag material, that should drive some of the unit costs down from rehandling perspective. So this is some of the work that is ongoing as part of the technical review and to evaluate our full costs. Again, we'll come out with a new mine plan within the H1 of next year. There are no other questions.
That concludes the webcast and the conference call. A replay will be available on our website later today. On behalf of Scott and the rest of the management team, thank you for joining us today and wishing you a pleasant rest of the day. Bye for now.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude the conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending. At this time, we just ask that you please disconnect your lines.