Precious metals mining company Fresnillo Plc (LON:FRES) have upgraded their output guidance for gold for the fourth quarter, whilst downgrading silver.
One of the London-listed go-to precious metal players has today announced that it has seen a 1.7 % on-year increase in gold output, as well as an on-year increase of 8.5% in silver output to date.
While guidance for gold has been upgraded from 900,000-930,000 to 920,000 to 940,000 ounces, silver has been downgraded from 64.5-67.5 million to 62.0-64.5 million ounces. This comes after a dip in output for gold in the third quarter, which saw the firm’s Q3 gold output drop 3.5% on-year, while silver output grew 6.3%.
Output has been boosted by strong performance from the firm’s Pyrites Plant and higher volumes of ore milled at the San Julian site. The firm’s current standing represents a return to form after its blip in June, but does not represent the same ground-breaking success enjoyed by other miners.
“Gold production continues to beat expectations and we are once again revising our guidance upwards following another strong quarter, in particular at our Saucito and Noche Buena mines where volumes exceed targets,” said Octavio Alvídrez, Fresnillo CEO.
“Though silver production is up against all comparable periods, we are revising full year silver guidance following continued challenges at the Fresnillo and Saucito mines. These are world class, tier one silver assets, and we remain both determined, and confident, given the actions we are taking, that we will deliver a better performance in the last quarter and in 2019.”
While year-to-date silver output is up 8.5%, ongoing concerns have seen the firm’s share price dip 1.9% or 18.6p in morning trading to 958.6p. RBC Capital Markets analysts have reiterated their ‘Top Pick’ stance on Fresnillo stock, having upgraded the stokc earlier in the month. Citigroup have reiterated their ‘Neutral’ stance.