London-listed Fresnillo has reported solid quarterly results, keeping the miner on track to achieve its 2022 guidance of 50.5-million to 56.5-million ounces of silver and 600 000 oz to 650 000 oz of gold production.
The Mexico-focused miner produced 14.4-million ounces of silver production in the second quarter, up 8.1% from the first quarter but down 3.6% on a year-on-year basis.
Quarterly gold output increased by 6.1% year-on-year to 159 000 oz, but decreased by 20.6% year-on-year.
Fresnillo reported quarterly silver-equivalent production of 27.1-million ounces in the three months ended June and first half silver-equivalent output of 52.3-million ounces.
“We are making good operational progress, despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic and global supply chain bottlenecks, which are likely to persist in the second half,” said CEO Octavio Alvidrez.
Commenting on the Mexico labour reform, which limits the use of contractors, Alvidrez said that Fresnillo’s recruitment and training campaigns were proving effective and that the process for underground mines should be completed by year-end. The openpit mines were already fully staffed.
Fresnillo also reported that the tie-in of the Juanicipio plant – its next major growth project – to the national grid would be achieved in the coming weeks and that commissioning and ramp-up would start soon thereafter.