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The silver price didn’t move much this week, but major miners provided excitement by releasing their Q2 results.
Silver’s movement last week was fairly directionless, and unfortunately this week brought more of the same.
The white metal opened Monday at $19.97 per ounce, but sank throughout the day, eventually hitting $19.51. Though it was able to rise as high as $19.79 on Tuesday, ultimately it moved back down, alongside gold, to close at $19.53.
Wednesday, silver continued its downward slide, reaching $19.24, its lowest point for the week thus far, but later rose on the back of weakness in the U.S. dollar to end the day at $19.58, as per Scotiabank’s daily Gold & Silver Markewatch report.
Today, that upward movement continued, and silver was able to close at $20.25, down slightly from $20.30, its high for the week thus far.
Company news
A number of silver miners delivered their results for the second quarter of 2013 this past week, with most — unsurprisingly — reporting net losses. However, the majority were also able to find things to be positive about.
Endeavour Silver (TSX:EDR,NYSE:EXK) announced its Q2 results on Wednesday, noting that it saw a net loss of $0.4 million, a 133-percent decline from the year-ago period. On the upside, the company’s silver production rose by 48 percent, to 1,535,873 ounces, while its gold production increased by 159 percent, to 19,914 ounces. The company’s silver equivalent production also rose, hitting 2.61 million ounces for a 76 percent increase.
Reporting the same day, Great Panther Silver (TSX:GPR,NYSEMKT:GPL) recorded a net loss of $5.1 million for the quarter, down from a net income of $0.4 million during the same quarter last year. More encouragingly, Robert Archer, the company’s president and CEO, said “operations generated record metal production,” also commenting, “[p]roduction for May and June showed improved grades and lower site costs, and we continue to work hard to further lower our costs and increase the profitability of our mines.”
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL), which released its results the next day, incurred a net loss of $25 million, or $0.08 per basic share. However, its silver production for the quarter rose 64 percent from the year-ago period, to 2.2 million ounces, and its gold production increased by 68 percent, to 22,226 ounces, after Hecla acquired Aurizon Mines on June 1.
Coming in with the highest net loss was Silver Standard Resources (TSX:SSO,NASDAQ:SSRI) at $235.9 million, or $2.92 per share, down substantially from net income of $35 million, or $0.43 per share, in the year-ago quarter. However, the company is on track to reach full-year production guidance at its Pirquitas mine and made progress at its Pitarrilla project.
Shining brightest was Primero Mining (TSX:P,NYSE:PPP,ASX:PPM), whose net income came in at $4.2 million, or $0.04 per share, not too far off from the $6.6 million, or $0.07 per share, it brought in during the year-ago quarter. It also achieved record production, putting out 39,089 gold equivalent ounces (26,904 ounces of gold and 1.46 million ounces of silver), and its highest silver sales at spot prices.
Junior company news
Midway through the week, Kootenay Silver (TSXV:KTN) announced that the interpretation of new data gained through exploration done at its Promontorio project over the last year reveals four main pieces of information:
- Areas of potential expansion of the known M&I resource.
- Target zones where drilling shows potential for up-grading category from inferred resource.
- New zones of resource potential outside drilled areas.
- Discovery and outline of numerous newly recognized breccia pipes in the diatreme system.
James McDonald, president and CEO of Kootenay, commented, “[t]he current work has identified numerous additional priority areas with potential to sharply expand resources. Especially noteworthy are the high silver grades in drill holes DH 185 to 188. Sitting between the NE and Pit zones, these holes show potential for the existence of a high-grade core that may connect to high grades previously identified in the NE Zone.”
On Thursday, Southern Silver Exploration (TSXV:SSV) paid $150,000 to finalize the acquisition of a 100-percent interest in the New Mexico-based Oro polymetallic property, which covers about 17.2 square kilometers; over the past seven years, the company has paid US$1.08 million to purchase the claim package. Oro is subject to a 2-percent net smelter return royalty that can be bought for $2 million.
The same day, Yellowhead Mining (TSX:YMI,OTCQX:YHMGF) reported its results for the second quarter and first half of 2013, noting that highlights include the restating and amending of a NI 43-101 compliant amended feasibility study and the submission of an application for an Environmental Assessment Certificate for the company’s Harper Creek project.
One of Yellowhead’s plans moving forward is to explore financing options for Harper Creek.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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