The company's Gwalia mine produced 68,589 ounces of gold for the three months to December, a significant jump from the 45,391oz posted in September.

The King of the Hills operation, also in the Leonora area, recorded 12,033oz for the period.

The production hike came on the back of higher mined grades, particularly at Gwalia, which rose from 7.9 grams per tonne to 9.1gpt.

St Barbara said the Leonora result was an all-time record for the mines and had more than recovered the ounces deferred in the September quarter due to a mill shutdown.

Elsewhere, the Simberi mine in Papua New Guinea posted 6816oz for the month of December and 17,295oz for the quarter.

St Barbara said it was the highest monthly and quarterly production since it acquired the operation in 2012.

The result is an encouraging development at the project, which has previously struggled with a slower-than-expected improvement in operational performance.

"Simberi production in December started to show the benefit of having the SAG mill and ball mill running in parallel, resulting in the first month of positive net cash flow since acquisition," the company said.

"The current focus is on ensuring production continues to ramp up to achieve a continuing level of cash surplus."

All up St Barbara produced 97,917oz for the December quarter, up from 68,823oz in the previous three months.

On the financial side it finished with a cash balance of $69.6 million, up from the $56.4 million recorded in September.

The company said it would report costs later this month and the figures were expected to be favourable due to the strong production result.

St Barbara shares were up 7% to 15c this morning.