Canadian miner Yamana Gold, which South Africa’s Gold Fields has made a play for, on Thursday announced strong production results, which exceeded its budget, keeping the company on track to achieve both its yearly production and cost guidance.

The miner, which operates in Canada, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, produced 260 960 gold-equivalent ounces (GEOs) in the June quarter, with 232 542 oz of gold and 2.36-million ounces of silver.

The Canadian Malartic mine, in Quebec, produced 87 186 oz of gold (50% basis) during the second quarter, ahead of plan.

Jacobina, in Brazil, also had an exceptional second quarter and delivered record quarterly production of 49 662 oz of gold. Yamana said production for 2022 was expected to increase for the ninth consecutive year, a trend that the miner said would continue in the coming years, as a result of a phased expansion strategy at the mine.

El Peñón, in Chile, produced 54 068 GEO, comprised of 46 627 oz of gold and 619 981 oz of silver during the quarter, with June production of 19 077 GEO benefitting from access to the Chiquilla Chica zone which entered into production at the beginning of the month.

Optimised mining sequencing, bringing forward zones with a higher gold to silver ratio in the first half of the year, has put El Peñón in an excellent position to achieve full-year GEO production guidance, Yamana reported.

Minera Florida, also in Chile, produced 18 138 oz of gold during the quarter and is on track to meet the yearly production guidance.

In Argentina, Cerro Moro delivered exceptional results, Yamana said, producing 51 906 GEO, comprising 30 929 oz of gold and 1.7-million ounces of silver.

“Production at the mine continues to benefit from the opening of more mining faces and the resultant increase in mill feed coming from higher-grade underground ore, as well as improved recoveries,” said the company, adding that production for the first half of 2022 marked the highest half-yearly production since 2019.

Yamana expects to produce no less than one-million GEOs in 2022 at an all-in sustaining cost of no more than $1 080/GEO.