Midtier precious metals miner Endeavour Silver is continuing to deliver strong production results and is “well positioned” to beat its guidance for the year, CEO Dan Dickon reported on Friday.
Endeavour, which operates two high-grade silver/gold mines in Mexico, produced 1.36-million ounces of silver and 9 289 oz of gold, for silver-equivalent production of 2.1-million ounces in the second quarter.
Production continues to outpace the 2022 production guidance of 6.7-million to 7.6-million silver equivalent ounces (SEOs), totalling 4.1-million SEOs for the first six months of the year.
“Amid ongoing turmoil in the markets due to supply constraints, continued inflation concerns, and uncertainty from the raising of interest rates from historical lows, we had another solid quarter of production.
“Despite the current macro trends, the company and precious metals outlook remains optimistic. Given our positive view for short-term precious metal prices, we are comfortable holding back bullion inventory over the quarter for future sale,” said Dickson.
For the period, the Guanacevi mine continued to outperform. Silver and gold production exceeded plan driven by higher grades offset by lower tonnes milled. Guanacevi processed 94 017 t at a gold grade of 465 g/t and silver grade of 1.37 g/t, yielding 1.19-million ounces of silver and 3 680 oz of gold.
“While it’s has been gratifying to see grades reach new highs, we expect grades to align with or be slightly above plan for the second half of the year,” Dickson said.
A safety milestone was attained at Guanacevi, where employees and business partners surpassed two-million hours worked free of a lost-time injury.
Meanwhile, Bolañitos’ performance remained steady, whereby strong silver production, higher silver grades and increased throughput were offset by the impact of lower-than-expected gold production and gold grades. Bolañitos processed 107 344 t at a gold grade of 54 g/t and silver grade of 1.77 g/t for 165 057 oz of silver and 5 609 oz of gold.
Endeavour sold 602 894 oz silver and 9 792 oz gold during the quarter. The company held about 1.4-million ounces silver and 2 580 oz gold of bullion inventory and 12 408 oz silver and 588 oz gold in concentrate inventory at quarter end.
Endeavour is also advancing the Terronera project. The early works programme initiated last year continued, including detail engineering, critical contracts and the procurement of long-lead items. Extensive due diligence work continued for project financing.
The company intends to make a formal construction decision subject to completion of a financing package and receipt of additional amended permits in the coming months.
Subsequent to the quarter end Endeavour closed the acquisition of the Pitarrilla project on July 6. The addition of the Pitarrilla project is posited to enhance the company’s growth profile while maintaining a silver focus.