Mexico’s largest gold producer Fresnillo has lowered its 2020 guidance for gold, citing Covid-related work restrictions at its openpit mines, but the company kept its silver production outlook unchanged.
The London-listed miner explained on Wednesday that it had to reduce the number of mine operators at Herradura, owing to Covid-19 preventative measures to protect the vulnerable personnel and lower-than-expected ore grades at the Dynamic Leaching plant, together with restricted access to deeper areas at the Noche Bueana mine.
Silver mines, however, were performing in line with the forecast set at the beginning of the year.
The gold production forecast has been reduced to a range of 745 000 oz to 775 000 oz, compared with the previous guidance of 785 000 oz to 815 000 oz. The silver production guidance remains unchanged at 51-million to 56-million ounces.
Third-quarter attributable silver production remained flat at 13.3-mimllion ounces and year-to-date output was down 1.8% year-on-year at 40.1-million ounces.
Quarterly and year-to-date attributable gold output decreased 17.7% and 13.7%, respectively, to 172 718 oz and 554 037 oz.
Meanwhile, development projects were ongoing, with the Pyrates plant and the optimisation of the beneficiation plant, both at Fresnillo, due for completion this year.
At Juancipio, preparation of the first production stope has been concluded and development ore was processed at the Fresnillo plant during the third quarter. Juancipio should start commissioning by mid-2021.
“I remain both proud and grateful for the efforts our people across all our sites have made and the resilience they have shown in adapting so quickly to the many measures we have put in place to limit the spread of the virus. The progress we have made at our Juanicipio development project in the Fresnillo district is testament to this,” said CEO Octavio Alvídrez.