Hochschild Mining claims record production in Q3
Updated : 08:29
Hochschild Mining published its production report for the three months to 30 September on Thursday, claiming record attributable production during the quarter.
The FTSE 250 firm reported production of 5 million ounces of silver and 66,400 ounces of gold, as well as 9.9 million silver equivalent ounces - up 19% quarter-on-quarter - and 133,900 ounces of gold equivalent.
For the year to date, Hochschild reported production of 13.2 million ounces of silver and 184,500 ounces of gold, on top of 26.9 million silver equivalent ounces, and 363,000 gold equivalent ounces.
It exploration strategy was ongoing, seeing it implement a “significant” brownfield exploration plan to extend the life-of-mine and deliver additional low cost growth.
Exploration progress at Pallancata was delivering positive results, with the presence of Pablo Pisos confirmed and a high-grade area confirmed within that.
In terms of finances, the company repaid a further $56m of debt during the quarter, bringing its total debt repaid in the year-to-date to $123m.
Hochschild held total cash of $96m as at 30 September, up from $84m at the beginning of the year, and had net nebt of $230m at the end of the quarter, narrowing from $366m at the end of 2015.
Its current net debt to LTM EBITDA leverage was 0.65x at the end of the third quarter.
Looking ahead, the company upgraded its full year production forecast to 35 million silver equivalent ounces, and said its all-in sustaining costs per silver equivalent ounce remained on track to be between $11 and $11.50 for the year.
“The third quarter of 2016 has delivered a record performance from our operations and continued the strong trend from the first half with Inmaculada and Arcata in particular performing better than expected,” said CEO Ignacio Bustamante.
“We are therefore pleased to announce that we have raised our target for the year to 35 million silver equivalent ounces.
“Regarding exploration, we have reported some important progress in Pallancata, with confirmation of several structures as well as a high grade area within Pablo.”