Precious metals miner Hochschild has reported a quarter-on-quarter drop in gold and silver production, owing to a temporary delay at the Inmaculada mine, in Peru.
The London-listed miner delivered attributable production of 72 364 gold-equivalent ounces (GEO), or six-million silver-equivalent ounces, during the second quarter. This compares with 80 960 GEOs in the second quarter last year.
Inmaculada's second-quarter production was 30 639 oz of gold and 1.3-million ounces of silver, which amounts to output of 46 297 GEOs.
Hochschild said tonnage was lower than the previous quarter, as expected, owing to the ongoing delays in the decision on the modified environment impact assessment (MEIA) impacting mine development, although this was offset by higher grades.
Overall, in the first half of 2023, Inmaculada produced 92 856 GEOs, compared with 106 584 GEOs.
Hochschild said it continued to work with SENACE, Peru's National Service of Environmental Certification for Sustainable Investments, to complete the final review of Inmaculada's MEIA.