(Alliance News) - Hochschild Mining PLC on Wednesday said its third quarter was the strongest in the year so far as it announced a "major discovery" at the Pallancata deposit.
Shares in Hochschild were trading 12% higher at 64.62 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
In the three months to September 30, Hochschild produced 116,000 ounces of gold equivalent. This was down from 122,000 ounces produced in the same period last year but up on the 107,000 produced last quarter.
The London-based gold and silver miner operating in the Americas produced 8.4 million ounces of silver equivalent, down from the 8.8 million ounces last year. Like gold, however, it was up on the 7.7 million ounces produced last quarter.
It sold 63,000 ounces of gold, down from 69,000 last year, and 3.9 million ounces of silver, up from 3.8 million last year.
Hochschild said it is on track to deliver full year attributable production target of between 360,000 and 375,000 gold equivalent ounces and between 26 and 27 million silver equivalent ounces.
The company also announced a "major discovery" at the Pallancata deposit. Although located just outside the existing permitted area, it is expected to ensure the medium to long-term future of the mine.
The company expects to announce a preliminary inferred resource in the next few weeks and will make a decision on the operation's short-term future in 2023.
Hochschild also said it Mara Rosa project in Brazil was progressing "according to schedule" with total project progress at 16% and detailed engineering now 90% complete.
Chief Executive Officer Ignacio Bustamante said: "Operationally, the third quarter was our strongest yet in 2022 and we expect to meet both our full year production and our cost targets. We have also recently completed our submission in response to the Peruvian government's follow-up comments on Inmaculada's Modified Environmental Impact Assessment and currently expect a final decision before the year-end.
"We have made further solid progress at our Mara Rosa project in Brazil where we have reached 16% completion and remain on schedule and on budget with all key infrastructure, procurement and construction targets."
By Chris Dorrell; chrisdorrell@alliancenews.com
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Hochschild (HOC)