The Canadian Malartic mine.
Canadian gold miner Yamana Gold on Wednesday reported strong preliminary second-quarter production results and updated its guidance for the year to reflect the completion of the sale of the Chapada mine, in Brazil, to Lundin Mining.
The company produced 257 556 gold-equivalent ounces (GEOs) in the second quarter, comprising 232 863 oz of gold and 2.17-million ounces of silver. Both the gold and silver production were stronger than anticipated, Yamana said.
During the second quarter, the now-sold Chapada mine produced 29 019 oz of gold and 31.23-million pounds of copper.
The Yamana statement highlighted the strong performance of the Jacobina mine, in Brazil, which the company previously said was “on the cusp of becoming a major mine”, with expansion studies under way.
Jacobina recorded its eleventh straight quarter of production of well over 30 000 oz and its second straight quarter of record production. The mine delivered 38 951 oz of gold in the three months under review and its guidance for the year has been increased from 145 000 oz to 152 000 oz.
“The mine continues to emerge as a leading operation on production, costs and safety,” the company noted.
The 50%-owned Canadian Malartic, in Quebec, Cerro Moro, in Argentina, and El Peñón, in Chile, all posted strong second-quarter results. The Minera Florida mine, in Chile, was impacted by reduced productivity during wage negotiations in the quarter.
As a result of the sale of Chapada, Yamana revised its guidance for the year from 1.06-million GEOs to 1.01-million GEOs, including 899 000 oz of gold.
Yamana, which is in the midst of an organisational streamlining process, stated that it would report positive free cash flow in the second quarter and that this was expected to increase in the second half of the year, owing to reductions in general and administrative expenses, as well as lower interest expenses in anticipation of reduced debt.