7th Sep 2020 10:27
(Alliance News) - Hochschild Mining PLC on Monday reissued its annual production guidance and said that its Inmaculada project in Peru is now operating at full capacity.
The precious metals firm said its revised attributable production target for 2020 as a whole is for between 280,000 and 290,000 gold equivalent ounces. All-in sustaining costs are forecast at between USD1,250 and USD1,290 per gold equivalent ounces.
Revised total sustaining and development capital expenditure for 2020 is now predicted to be between around USD110 million and USD120 million.
In 2019, full year attributable production was 477,400 gold equivalent ounces, with all-in sustaining costs from operation being USD965 per gold equivalent ounce.
In its 2019 results, Hochschild also announced a 2020 attributable gold production target of 422,000 gold equivalent ounces with total sustaining and development capital expenditure of around USD115 million to USD130 million.
Hochschild has also increased its 2020 brownfield exploration budget to USD37 million from USD36 million, while the greenfield budget is USD9 million versus the previously expected USD8 million.
In its second-quarter production report, released July, the company said it would reissue guidance to reflect temporary suspension of Inmaculada.
Inmaculada was still in its ramp-up phase when the company's 2020 interim results were published on August 19. This followed a second stoppage in early July following a number of positive Covid-19 cases, meaning that its Inmaculada and Pallancata mines were stopped for 11 weeks in total.
It was expected to start operating at full production capacity by August end and has now done so, albeit in September and not August.
"I am pleased to report that the team has carried out a successful remobilisation and ramp-up at our flagship Inmaculada operation and that we are now running the mine at full capacity. We have also reinstated our guidance for 2020 which reflects the impact of the ongoing restrictions in both Peru and Argentina but is expected to deliver a solid second half of production with strong expected cashflow generation," said Hochschild Chief Executive Ignacio Bustamante.
Shares in Hochschild were up 2.6% at 238.00 pence in London on Monday morning.
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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