LionGold Corp says its subsidiary Castlemaine Goldfields produced 27,512 ounces of gold at its Ballarat Mine last year, in its first full year of production.

That generated gold sales of A$43.4 million (S$56 million), the mainboard-listed company said today in a corporate update.

Some 146,000 tonnes of gold-bearing ore were processed at an average grade of 7.4 grams per tonne.

Average gold recovery was 86 per cent.

Under Castlemaine ownership, the Ballarat gold mine poured its first gold bar in September 2011.

The mine then embarked on a six to nine month production ramp-up. The average annualised rate for the nine months to December last year has been 30,000 ounces per annum.

The Ballarat gold mine is expected to produce between 40,000 and 50,000 ounces of gold this year.

Castlemaine Goldfields is an Australian gold explorer and producer with five tenements in Central Victoria's historic gold belt.

Two of these tenements have gold resources of 787,700 ounces.