Coeur Mining Announces Commercial Production at Silvertip Mine

Coeur Mining’s (NYSE:CDE) Silvertip silver-zinc–lead project has begun commercial production, prompting the miner to update its full-year guidance, the company announced on Tuesday (September 4).

Couer purchased the mine, which is located in Northern BC, in October of last year with initial production beginning in March 2018.

“[O]ur team has been focused on optimizing plant performance and on upgrading the mine’s infrastructure. We continue to be excited about the impact Silvertip is expected to have on our production, margins and cash flow beginning next year,” said Mitchell J. Krebs, president and CEO.

“Optimization efforts at Silvertip will continue over the next several quarters, with processing rates on track to average 750 tonnes per day by year-end and reach 1,000 tonnes per day in early 2019,” he added. 

Throughout the month of August, the company reported that processing rates averaged about 450 tonnes per day, from about 350 tonnes per day during July and 250 tonnes per day during June.

“We remain on-track to publish an initial NI 43-101 Technical Report in the fourth quarter and expect to receive approval of the permit amendment application to operate at 1,000 tonnes per day around year-end,” Krebs added.

In addition to Silvertip entering into commercial production, a stronger-than-expected performance at Rochester, in Nevada, has allowed the company to revise and increase its production guidance for 2018.

Coeur updated the guidance from 36 million to 39.4 million silver-equivalent ounces to 36.1 million to 39.5 million silver-equivalent ounces.

Additionally, the miner has forecast that the Silvertip mine will contribute between 2.03 million and 3.48 million silver-equivalent ounces, compared with the original guidance of 4.03 million to 5.08 million silver-equivalent ounces.

The Rochester mine’s production forecast has been increased from between 6.9-million and 7.7 million ounces to between 7.68 million and 8.32 million silver-equivalent ounces.

As of 12:20 p.m. EST on Wednesday (September 5), Coeur Mining was up 1.74 percent, trading at US$5.55.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Nicole Rashotte, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.