20th Jan 2016 07:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - Gold miner Fresnillo PLC Wednesday said gold production in 2015 has exceeded its guidance with silver production also coming in at the top end of its guidance range, with both production of both commodities expected to rise in 2016.
Gold production in 2015 totalled 762,000 ounces of gold, comfortably beating its revised guidance range of 715,000 to 730,000 ounces. Importantly, it also exceeded the company;s target to have production over 750,000 ounces a year by 2018.
In 2014, the miner only produced 596,000 ounces - meaning production has risen by around 27% year-on-year. In 2016, production is expected to be in the range of 775,000 to 790,000 ounces of gold.
That was as a result of the dynamic leaching plant being fully operational following its start-up in March 2014 and Herradura being fully operational post the temporary explosives permit suspension which affected 2014 production.
All of Fresnillo's production comes from assets across Mexico.
Silver production in 2015 also came in at the top end of the company's guidance range at 47.0 million ounces, which is also up 4.4% from 2014. That was the result of increased production from the Saucito mine offsetting declines at the Fresnillo mine.
The miner said it remains on track to get silver production above 65.0 million ounces by 2018. In 2016, production is expected to rise to 49.0 to 51.0 million ounces.
Fresnillo also outlined its exploration budget for 2016, totalling USD135.0 to USD140.0 million, compared to USD151.0 million in 2015.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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