By: Henry Lazenby
Latin America-focused Fortuna Silver Mines on Thursday said it was on track to beat its production guidance for the year, having by the end of the third quarter already produced 80% of its expected full-year silver guidance and 94% of the expected gold production.
Fortuna, which operates the San Jose mine, in Mexico, and the Caylloma mine, in Peru, had produced 2.97-million ounces of silver and 16 331 oz of gold in the first nine months of the year, setting it well on its way to go beyond its full-year production guidance of 3.7-million ounces of silver and 17 400 oz of gold.
For the quarter ended September 30, the company lifted silver production by 53% to 1.02-million ounces and gold production was up by 230% to 5 348 oz. The company’s mines also produced significant volumes of base-metals by-product.
This included 4.45-million pounds of lead and 5.6-million pounds of zinc.
"Our operations teams continue to successfully execute our mine plans and capitalise on opportunities to further optimise processes at our mines in Peru and Mexico,” CEO Jorge Ganoza said in a statement.
He added that San Jose’s processing plant expansion was proceeding as planned and was expected to be complete by mid-2013. Long lead-time items such as the 800 t/d ball mill and other significant equipment had already been bought.
Fortuna expected its consolidated yearly production rate to increase to five-million ounces of silver and 26 000 oz of gold, as well as increasing its base-metal credits significantly when the expansion is complete.
At Caylloma, the tailings dam project was de-risked and the company expected to receive its final operations permit from Peru’s Mines and Energy Ministry within weeks.
The company’s stock trading on the Toronto bourse rose by 6.14% to C$5.01 apiece on Thursday.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
