Production up at Fresnillo

14th Apr 2010 07:48

Silver and gold producer Fresnillo said first quarter gold production exceeded its expectations.Quarterly attributable gold production increased by 31.5% over the same period last year to a record level of 85,097 ounces, as commercial production at Soledad-Dipolos kicked in during January 2010.The initial operating results at Soledad-Dipolos were better than expected with the mine contributing 11,226 attributable gold ounces.It's silver that Fresnillo is best known for, however, and production of that precious metal was also up in the first quarter, rising 3.0% to 9.49m ounces from 9.22m ounces a year earlier.Silver production benefited from higher ore grades and increased tonnage milled at Ciénega, thanks to maintenance improvements.Under the Silverstream agreement with Peñoles the group also accrued 714,000 payable silver ounces, down 19.5% from the first quarter of 2009, though this was expected due to the temporary decline in the ore grade at the Sabinas mine.Ore grades have recovered since the fourth quarter of 2009, resulting in a 19.4% increase in silver ounces accrued quarter on quarter.Turning to development projects the company said construction of the Saucito project remains on track. In the first quarter, 269,066 ounces of silver, 1,168 ounces of gold and 41 tonnes of lead were recovered from the Saucito development ore processed at the Fresnillo mill.