TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mexico-focused miner First Majestic Silver on Tuesday reported a new record for full-year output from its five active mines, lifting precious metals production by 19% year-on-year.
The Vancouver-based firm reported 15.26-million silver equivalent ounces, consisting of 11.75-million ounces of silver, 12 283 oz of gold, 39.19-million pounds of lead and 13.13-million pounds of zinc.
The total output in the fourth quarter ended December 31, also reached a new record of 4.25-million equivalent ounces, consisting of 3.07-million ounces of silver, 3 326 oz of gold, 11.76-million pounds of lead and 4.58-million pounds of zinc.
The strong performance was underpinned by the Del Toro silver mine, which recorded 1.26-million silver equivalent ounces, a 77% increase over the previous quarter.
“Our fourth-quarter production results show that our operations are back on track following a brief period of operational adjustments. We have made difficult but necessary changes to adapt to the current market environment and our recent cost cutting is beginning to be realised at the operations. We have made great strides thus far and I look forward to further cost improvements and efficiencies throughout 2015,” president and CEO Keith Neumeyer said.
For 2015, First Majestic expected silver output would range between 11.8-million ounces to 13.2-million ounces, 15.3-million to 17.1-million silver equivalent ounces, which would be mainly driven by upgrading and expanding the crushing and grinding area to 3 000 t/d at La Encantada during the first half of the year. The operation would also increase its underground production, as it shifted to using bulk-mining methods.
First Majestic was expecting its all-in sustaining cost an ounce to be within a range of $13.96 to $15.48 for every payable silver ounce.
The company in November revealed a strategic plan to drive costs down to 2006 levels as it dealt with sustained lower precious metals prices.