Coeur Mining Posts Profit In First Quarter
(Kitco News) - CoeurMining, Inc. (NYSE: CDE) late Wednesdayreported a small profit for the first quarter.
Thecompany listed both net income and adjusted income of $0.7 million, or zerocents per share. In the year-ago quarter, net income was $18.3 million, or 10cents, while adjusted income was $6.8 million, or 4 cents.
Revenuefell to $163.3 million from $185.6 in the same period a year ago, as the tallyin the first quarter of 2017 included elevated sales of inventory carried overfrom the previous year, Coeur said.
Theaverage realized price for an ounce of gold rose to $1,268 from $1,149 in thefirst quarter of 2017, while the average silver price fell to $16.70 from$17.49. The company, which previously released its production results, saidsilver-equivalent output increased 4% year-over-year to 8.3 millionsilver-equivalent ounces mainly due to a 31% increase in silver production atPalmarejo, partially offset by a 14% decrease in gold production at Wharf.
Officialssaid Coeur achieved several milestones during the first quarter, including thestart of production slightly ahead of schedule at the Silvertip mine andannouncing the results of a re-scoped mine plan and preliminary economicassessment for its Rochester mine in Nevada. The PEA reflects plans to addhigh-pressure grinding roll technology to Rochester's crushing circuit,potentially improving silver recovery curves. The company also completed thesale of its Bolivian subsidiary and the San Bartolom?(C) mine.
“Combinedwith the successful start-up at our new Silvertip mine in British Columbia andour announced plans to install new HPGR technology at our Rochester mine inNevada, which is expected to more than double the mine's net asset value, weare entering the second quarter with strong momentum,” said Mitchell J. Krebs,president and chief executive officer.
"Lowerproduction and higher costs companywide during the quarter were in line withour previously disclosed expectations due to the normalization of productionlevels at Rochester and lower planned grades and production at Wharf andKensington.”
Krebssaid Coeur’s production and free cash flows should rise as Silvertip ramps upand development capital expenditures decrease.
Coeur also announced highlights of an NI 43-101 technical reportfor its Kensington gold mine in Alaska. The data shows a 25% increase in provenand probable reserves to 620,700 ounces and a 10% increase in average reservegrade to 0.21 ounces per ton, or 7.2 grams per tonne, compared to year-end 2016reserves, Coeur said. This includes an initial reserve estimate for thehigh-grade Jualin deposit of 74,100 contained ounces of gold.
The company said it foresees a 13% increase in expected average annual production to approximately130,000 ounces of gold from 2019 through 2021, compared to 2017. Mining costsper ounce should fall, and this will extend the mine life, Coeur said.
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
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