MEXICO CITY (dpa-AFX) - Mining company Fresnillo plc (FRES.L) reported Wednesday that its third-quarter total silver production, including Silverstream, declined 14.5 percent to 13.28 million ounces from 15.53 million ounces last year.
The decline was primarily driven by the expected lower ore grade at Saucito and lower ore grades at Fresnillo and San Julián.
Excluding Silverstream, silver production dropped 14.3 percent to 12.62 million ounces. Sequentially, total silver production decreased 7.9 percent.
Quarterly gold production was 209.8 thousand ounces, down 6.9 percent from last year, and down 5.2 percent sequentially. The drop was due to a lower grade and lower volume of ore processed at both Herradura and San Julián veins, and a lower volume of ore processed at Noche Buena.
Among by-products, lead production grew 19 percent and zinc production went up 10.5 percent from last year.
Looking ahead, the company expects higher overall fourth-quarter silver production with higher volume of ore processed at Fresnillo combined with higher grades at Saucito and Fresnillo.
For fiscal 2019, the company projects silver and gold production likely to be at the lower end of the guided ranges of 55-58 moz silver, including Silverstream, and 880-910 koz gold respectively.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX