Fortuna reports production of 1.8 million ounces of silver and 9,751 ounces of gold for third quarter 2014
Vancouver, October 9, 2014-- Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (NYSE: FSM) (TSX: FVI) (BVL: FVI) (Frankfurt: F4S.F) today announces production figures from its two underground mines in Latin America, the San Jose mine in Mexico and the Caylloma mine in Peru. In the third quarter of 2014, the company delivered 1.8 million ounces of silver, 9,751 ounces of gold plus base metal by-products. Year to date, the company has delivered 5 million ounces of silver and 26,420 ounces of gold. With current production results, silver and gold productions should exceed annual guidance by 9 percent and 8 percent respectively.
Jorge A. Ganoza, President and CEO, commented: “It is with great satisfaction that we see how our teams continue to capture opportunities to improve on our cost performance and annual production guidance. This operating performance translates directly to our bottom line results.” Mr. Ganoza continued, “We continue moving forward with our plans to expand the San Jose mine to three thousand tonnes per day capacity by mid-2016. With the San Jose expansion, Fortuna will be targeting a consolidated annual production rate of approximately nine million ounces of silver and fifty thousand ounces of gold.” Mr. Ganoza added, “So far this year, we have been benefitting from the right commodity mix at our Caylloma mine. We have mitigated the impact of twenty-two percent lower silver prices for the year by gearing the mine towards base metal zones. Zinc production is up twenty-five percent against budget at a time when zinc prices are up twenty-three percent against our budget and twenty-two percent for the year.”
Third Quarter Production Highlights
- Silver production of 1,803,827 ounces; 63 % increase over Q3 2013
- Gold production of 9,751 ounces; 116 % increase over Q3 2013
- Lead production of 4,213,192 pounds; 11 % decrease over Q3 2013
- Zinc production of 7,148,465 pounds; 11 % increase over Q3 2013
- Cash cost* for San Jose is US$62.6/t; 7 % decrease over annual guidance of US$67.1/t
- Cash cost* for Caylloma is US$91.1/t; 3 % increase over annual guidance of US$88.3/t
Consolidated Operating Highlights
| Third Quarter 2014 | Third Quarter 2013 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caylloma, Peru | San Jose, Mexico | Consolidated | Caylloma, Peru | San Jose, Mexico | Consolidated | |
| Processed Ore | ||||||
| Tonnes milled (t) Average tpd milled | 117,728 1,308 | 177,112 2,015 | 117,111 1,301 | 102,088 1,200 | ||
| Silver** | ||||||
| Grade (g/t) Recovery (%) Production (oz) | 181 85.84 588,727 | 239 89.42 1,215,100 | 1,803,827 | 180 84.06 568,722 | 184 88.86 536,191 | 1,104,914 |
(*) Preliminary estimates of cash operating costs, subject to modification on final cost consolidation (**) Caylloma mine Ag recovery in Pb concentrate