Latin American precious metals miner Hochschild Mining PLC (HOC.LN) Wednesday reiterated that it remains on track to achieve its full year production target and said the outlook for its strategic investments remains "positive."

Eduardo Hochschild, the executive chairman of the London-listed miner, said at the company's Annual General Meeting that 2010 is "progressing well." "We remain on track to achieve our full year production target of 26.3 million attributable silver equivalent troy ounces from current operations, with an additional 1.5 million to 2.5 million silver equivalent ounces from our stakes in Lake Shore Gold Corp (LSGGF) and Gold Resource Corporation (LSGGF)," he added.

Lake Shore Gold expects to start commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2010 with a target rate of 65,000 ounces of gold annually. The project will ramp up over the following three years, reaching 300,000 ounces annually by 2013.

Gold Resource Corporation shipped its first concentrate for sale in April 2010 and expects to start commercial production in the first half of 2010. The company plans to produce 70,000 ounces of gold in the first twelve months of commercial production.

Hochschild meanwhile said it remains committed to exploration and extending the life of its mines. To that extent, the miner boosted exploration expenditure by 75% to $50 million in 2010. Hochschild also has $79 million in cash as of March 31, 2010.

"With our solid asset base, strong project pipeline and experienced management team, we are extremely confident about Hochschild's long term growth prospects," the executive chairman said.

At 0930 GMT, Hochschild shares were 14.69p or 5.7% higher at 270.89p while the FTSE-100 stock index was up 1.9%.

 
  Company Website: http://www.hochschildmining.com

-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9328; alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
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