TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – With production from the newly commissioned Inmaculada mine, in Peru, ramping up, silver miner Hochschild Mining is on track to meet its full year production target of 24-million attributable silver equivalent ounces (SEOs).
Production for the second half of 2015 was expected to improve owing to the inclusion of the first material contribution from Inmaculada and a stronger contribution from San Jose, in Argentina, with all-in sustaining cost expected to meet guidance of between $13/oz and $14/oz of silver equivalent, Hochschild explained in a statement on its interim results.
The company on Wednesday reported that, for the six months ended June 30, 2015, its first-half loss had widened to $37.75-million, or 0.10 a share, compared with $1.54-million, or 0.01 a share, in the comparable period a year earlier.
During the period under review, the company delivered attributable production of 9.2-million SEOs, including 6.3-million ounces of silver and 406 000 ounces of gold.
Revenues declined by more than 30% to $190.3-million from $282-million in 2014 and losses from continuing operations widened to $37.75-million from $1.5-million. Revenues from gold in doré and in concentrate represented around 33% of the total.
Over the period, cash and cash equivalents declined by more than 70% to $84.3-million, leaving the company with net debt of $358.6-million.
The company had been investing in its new flagship Inmaculada mine, in Peru, which was now mostly complete. With net cash flow for investment of $119.2-million during the half, Hochschild saw net free cash outflow of $100.9-million before additional debt financing of $70.2-million.