FRES Fresnillo Plc

By Oliver Griffin

Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) said Wednesday that silver production in 2018 hit a record but still came in below guidance as a result of lower-than-expected ore grades at its Fresnillo and Saucito mines, both in Mexico.

The mining company said total silver production for the year rose 5.3% to 61.8 million ounces, up from 58.7 million ounces in 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2018, silver production fell to 15.5 million ounces, compared with 16 million in the year-earlier period.

Gold production for the year rose 1.3% to 922,527 ounces, Fresnillo said. Fourth-quarter gold production was flat at 232,026 ounces.

Fresnillo said the rise in 2018 silver production reflected the first full year of operations from its San Julian mine. However, Chief Executive Octavio Alvidrez said the record output didn't mask what had been a challenging year for the company.

Mr. Alvidrez said the company will take actions to address the lower-than-expected grades.

Fresnillo forecast silver production in 2019 in a range of 58 million to 61 million ounces and gold production for the coming year of between 910,000-930,000 ounces.

Board approval for the new Juanicipio project is expected in early 2019, the company said.

Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com; @OliGGriffin

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2019 02:46 ET (07:46 GMT)

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