K92 Mining (TSX: KNT) produced 49,776 gold equivalent ounces in the third quarter of 2026 at its Kainantu mine in Papua New Guinea, the second highest quarterly total in the company’s history.
Output was made up of 46,063 ounces of gold, 1.95 million pounds of copper and 55,746 ounces of silver. That was up 8% from the second quarter and 12% from the same period a year earlier.
The plant processed a record 250,042 tonnes during the quarter. That amounts to 11% more than in the second quarter and 82% more than a year ago, and works out to roughly 2,720 tonnes per day. The average still sits below the 3,290 tonnes per day design capacity of the new Stage 3 plant, although September throughput of 92,937 tonnes and a single-day peak of 3,725 tonnes show the operation closing that gap.
Head grades came in at 6.6 g/t gold equivalent, or 6.1 g/t gold, 0.37% copper and 8.5 g/t silver. Gold grade a year ago was 10.7 g/t, and that decline explains why an 82% increase in tonnes produced only a 12% gain in ounces.
Recoveries were 94.1% for gold and 94.9% for copper. Both beat the parameters of the company’s updated definitive feasibility study, and gold recoveries have now done so for 10 straight quarters.
Underground, K92 completed a record 3,486 metres of development and mined 252,744 tonnes of ore. The third mining front delivered its first stope ore in September.
Year to date production stands at 142,612 gold equivalent ounces, or 75% of the low end of the company’s 2026 guidance of 190,000 to 225,000 ounces. Reaching the bottom of that range requires about 47,400 ounces in the fourth quarter, which is in line with recent results. The top end would require roughly 82,400 ounces, far above the company’s best ever quarter of 53,401 ounces.
K92 reiterated its guidance and expects the fourth quarter to be its strongest of the year. The company pointed to a planned higher grade stoping sequence, the continued ramp-up of its second and third mining fronts, and a ventilation upgrade scheduled for commissioning in late October.
Chief Executive David Medilek, who recently succeeded John Lewins in the role, said those improvements “position us for our strongest production quarter of the year.”
K92 Mining last traded at $27.80 on the TSX.