TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and NYSE-listed Endeavour Silver achieved its ninth consecutive year of production growth in 2013, reporting record output of 6.81-million ounces of silver and 75 578 oz of gold.

Full-year silver output rose 52% and gold production 95% compared with that produced in 2012.

The Vancouver-based company on Thursday said it had also set a new record for quarterly silver and gold output, from its three operating silver mines in Mexico – the Guanacevi mine, in Durango state, and the Bolanitos and El Cubo mines, in Guanajuato state – during the three months ended December 31.

Silver output for the quarter rose 56% to 1.93-million ounces and gold output increased 37% to 17 686 oz, compared with the same quarter of 2012.

Fourth-quarter revenue was up 2% to about $67.9-million, mainly as a result of the increased precious metals output, offset by lower metals prices.

Full-year revenue climbed 33% to about $276.8-million as a result of the increased precious metals output, but was also offset by lower metals prices.

The realised silver price fell 25% to $23.10/oz and the realised gold price fell 18% to $1 375/oz.

"Endeavour's mining operations delivered another exceptional year in 2013, significantly outperforming our production guidance, which we revised upwards in September. Each of the three mines contributed above their mine plans for the year, with higher plant throughputs, ore grades and metal recoveries across the board.

“The Bolanitos mine, in particular, deserves special mention for delivering more than one-million ounces of silver above plan in 2013,” CEO Bradford Cooke said.

He added that last year was a challenging one for the mining industry, given the sharp sell-off in precious metals prices, and especially so for Endeavour as it launched a significant mine and plant reconstruction programme at El Cubo, which it completed on time and under budget.

“We needed to enhance our cash flow to cover our planned expenditures and we were successful notwithstanding the lower metals prices,” he said.

Cooke underscored that management continued to focus on improving cash flows by reducing costs and increasing productivity where possible to offset the still-declining precious metals prices, especially at El Cubo.