Kinross Gold Corporation (KGC Quick QuoteKGC - Free Report) said that unionized employees at its Tasiast mine in Mauritania went on a strike, following a notice by the Tasiast unions announced on May 10, 2016.

The company is open to re-start negotiations on a new collective agreement and resolve other outstanding issues with union representatives. Kinross does not expect the strike to affect the development of the Tasiast Phase One expansion.

Shares of the company gained1.4% to close at $4.41 on May 25.

Kinross, during its first-quarter 2016 earnings release, stated that the Tasiast Phase One expansion is underway. The development will nearly double production levels and halve the cost of sales.

The company reported a net loss of $13.9 million for the first quarter of 2016, wider than a net loss of $6.7 million in the year-ago quarter. Loss widened particularly due to lower gold prices. The figure includes one-time items including foreign exchange losses of $2.8 million, and acquisition-related costs of $7.6 million.

Adjusted earnings (excluding one-time items) were $1.4 million or a breakeven, compared with adjusted earnings of $15.3 million or a penny per share recorded in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by Zacks were expecting a loss of a penny per share on an average.

Revenues of $782.6 million were almost in line with the year-ago quarter as higher gold sales were partly offset by lower average realized gold prices. Revenues, however, missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $796 million.

Kinross currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked mining companies are Pretium Resources Inc. , Alamos Gold, Inc. (AGI Quick QuoteAGI - Free Report) and Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI Quick QuoteGFI - Free Report) , all of them carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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