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Fresnillo on track to achieve production target of 38 million ounces of silver and 340,000 ounces of gold

Published: 14:16 15 Jul 2010 BST

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The world's largest primary silver miner, Mexico's Fresnillo Wednesday announced record silver and gold production during the second quarter of this year.

Second-quarter 2010 silver production was reported at 9,615,000 ounces, up .03% from 9,587,000 for the second-quarter 2009 while quarterly gold production achieved a 33.9% increase from 68,166 ounces to 91.254 ounces.

First half silver production was reported at a record 19.1 million ounces, up 1.6% from 18,805,000 ounces for the same period of 2009.

Gold production also jumped 32.7% during the first half of this year from 132,894 ounces to 176,351 ounces.

Attributable gold production in the second quarter received a significant boost from the beginning of commercial production at the Soledad-Dipolos project and higher ore grades at the Ciénega mine, both located in Mexico.

By-product lead and zinc increased by 10.1% and 19.5% respectively to 4,654 metric tons of lead and 5,784 metric tons of zinc during the second quarter. During the first half of this year Fresnillo reported by-product lead production of 9,144 metric tons, up 8.3% for the same period of 2009, and 10,825 metric tons of zinc, a 6.1% increase over the first half of last year.

In a news release, the company said it is "well on track to achieve full year 2010 production targets" of 38 million ounces of silver and 340,000 ounces of gold.

The expansion of Ciénega's milling capacity from 755,000 to 930,000 tonnes annually is expected to become operational during the first half of 2011. It is expected to increase gold production and reduce costs.

Fresnillo CEO Jaime Lomelín said, "We have accomplished another quarter of stable silver production and promising exploration results. ...Our exploration program remains firmly on track and we are working hard over the quarter on the development of the Saucito project and on the expansion of milling capacity at Ciénega."

"Although we are pleased with these outcomes, which bear out our solid experience in developing and operating mines, we will continue improving performance at the mines," he added. "We remain committed to managing costs and delivering on our growth program."

Provided courtesy of Mineweb.com

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