Hochschild Mining shares were up 0.4% to 120.9p in early morning trading on Tuesday, after the company reported that it was on track to meet its 2022 targets in its Q1 production results.
The firm commented that it was aiming for a production target of 360,000 to 375,000 ounces of gold equivalent, and 26 to 27 million ounces of silver equivalent in 2022.
Hochschild Mining also said it was set to deliver its annual costs guidance of $1,330 to $1,370 per ounce of gold equivalent, alongside $18.5 to $19 per ounce of silver equivalent.
The mid-cap mining group announced 47,226 ounces of gold, 2.4 million ounces of silver, 80,889 gold equivalent ounces and 5.8 million silver equivalent ounces in its production over Q1 2022, despite a series of Covid-19-related disruptions to its Argentinian operations.
The firm said it had total cash resources of approximately $367 million at the end of March this year, alongside net cash of approximately $54 million and current net cash/LTM EBITDA projected at 0.153x.
The company further celebrated a slate of operational highlights, including its acquisition of Amarillo Gold on 1 April 2022, which is set to enhance the firm’s portfolio in its addition of a long-life asset in a jurisdiction which supports mining operations.
The group also kicked off a new drilling campaign at its Snip development project in Canada, after a significant boost to resources was announced on 1 March this year.
Hochschild added that brownfield drilling had commenced at all scheduled operations for the year.
“Our flagship Inmaculada operation has delivered a better than expected first quarter of the year and despite our Argentinian operations having faced Covid-related workforce absences and seasonal vacations early in the period, we are on track to meet 2022 production and cost targets,” said Hochschild Mining CEO Ignacio Bustamante.
“We completed our purchase of Amarillo Gold on 1 April and are looking forward to commencing construction at the exciting Mara Rosa project in Brazil in the near future.”
“In addition, we have recently initiated a new drilling campaign at the Snip project in Canada following our announcement in March of a significant increase in resources. Finally, I am pleased to report that our 2022 brownfield exploration programme has commenced at all our operations.”
