TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – High-grade, low-cost silver miner Excellon Resources on Thursday said it had lifted output from its flagship La Platosa mine, in Mexico by 50% quarter-on-quarter, boosted by higher grades.

The Toronto-based miner reported silver equivalent output of 607 252 oz for the three months ended September 30, comprising 454 573 oz of silver, 1.92-million pounds of lead and 2.14-million pounds of zinc.

The ore on average graded 975 g/t silver, and during September, Excellon produced 190 000 oz of silver production from ore grading over 1 000 g/t silver.

The net cash costs totalled $7.77/oz silver and all-in costs totalled $10.65/oz of silver equivalent.

According to 2012 data, Excellon counted as the lowest-cost silver producer among its peers, including Aurcana, SilverCrest Mines, US Silver & Gold, and Great Panther Silver.

Excellon generated positive cash flow, with cash, accounts receivable and securities totalling $9.7-million at the end of the quarter.

"Our operations team at La Platosa deserves credit for a solid third quarter. Our year-to-date results position us well to deliver on our updated production targets for 2013.

“We will continue to implement our mine optimisation plans to improve mine production over the coming year. We also remain focused on reducing corporate and mine-site costs to maintain and further improve our peer-leading all-in cost profile,” president and CEO Brendan Cahill said.

The company had seen significant insider trading in recent times, with Cahill reportedly owning about 53 930 shares, director Oliver Fernandez owning 7 800 shares and VP John Sullivan owning 3 000 shares. There had been 11 950 shares bought by insiders during the last 30 days.

Excellon's estimated 2013 silver production is 1.35-million ounces. The company's measured and indicated silver resources are about 17.1-million ounces.