Silvercorp Metals Inc (TSX:SVM, AMEX:SVM) has told investors it expects a significant increase in production in its 2023 financial year following exploration and resource upgrade drilling completed at its mines from 2020 to 2021.
Reporting results for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, the Canadian mining company noted that during 2021 alone, it completed over 409,000 metres of drilling.
For the three months ended December 31, 2021, Silvercorp said it mined 292,072 tonnes of ore and milled 304,772 tonnes, up 5% and 17% compared to the prior-year quarter.
READ: Silvercorp Metals hits multiple high-grade silver and gold zones in 2021 drilling at TLP mine in China
The company sold approximately 1.7 million ounces of silver, 1,100 ounces of gold, 17.2 million pounds of lead, and 7.6 million pounds of zinc, representing increases of 4%, 38%, and 2% in silver, gold and lead sold, and a decrease of 15% in zinc sold, compared to the same quarter a year earlier, it said.
That resulted in revenue of $59.1 million, up 11% from the $53.3 million reported in the December 2020 quarter. Net income totalled $5.1 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to $8.4 million, or $0.05 per share in the prior-year quarter. The decrease was mainly due to a mark-to-market charge of $8.5 million against equity and bond investments in the current quarter, the company said.
Cash flow from operations rose 20% to $28.7 million from $23.9 million in the prior-year quarter and it ended December with $211.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments. It noted that the strong balance sheet does not include its investments in associates and equity investments in other companies, worth $156.2 million.
Silvercorp said it expects to mine and process approximately 1,040,000 to 1,140,000 tonnes of ore in the year to end-March 2023, yielding 6,300 to 7,900 ounces of gold, 7.0 million to 7.3 million ounces of silver, 68.4 million to 71.3 million pounds of lead, and 32 million to 34.5 million pounds of zinc.
It noted that the guidance represents a production increase of approximately 9% in ores, 100% in gold, 11% in silver, 3% in lead, and 12% to 21% in zinc compared to its fiscal 2022 guidance.
Silvercorp is a profitable Canadian mining company producing silver, lead, and zinc metals in concentrates from mines in China. The company has six mines that make up its Ying project.
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