Pan American Silver Corp Third Quarter Earnings Dip

Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS, TSX: PAA) announced that, although gold production grew by 36 percent in Q3, rising costs and lower prices dented earnings.

As quoted in the press release:

Revenue generated during the third quarter of 2012 rose to a record $251.8 million, an increase of $31.3 million compared to the same quarter of last year.  The increase was due to higher quantities of metals sold, which was partially offset by the sharp decline in average realized metals prices. The average realized silver and gold prices during the quarter were $29.27 and $1,639 per ounce, which was 24% and 2% lower than a year ago, respectively.  The average realized zinc, lead and copper prices during the quarter were $1,871, $1,924 and $7,181 per tonne, respectively, which were 16%, 21% and 20% lower year-on-year.

Pan American Silver President and CEO, Geoff Burns, said:

Our focus will remain on generating sustainable profits from our operations and returning cash to our shareholders.  We will also use our financial strength to look both internally and externally for opportunities to grow our silver production, but will exercise discipline given the current environment of increasing political risk and capital cost escalation.

To view the whole press release, click here.