Gold and silver production is up and zinc production is down compared to last year according to Hudbay’s first quarter results.
Hudbay released its first quarter 2018 results earlier this month. It posted an overall net profit of $41.4 million compared to a net loss of $10 million in the first quarter of 2017.
The company’s Manitoba operations produced 28,782 tonnes of zinc, 7,655 tonnes of copper and 30,407 ounces of gold-equivalent precious metals in the first quarter. Gold production was 53 per cent higher and silver production was 67 per cent higher than the same period in 2017 as a result of precious metal grades at Lalor and 777. Zinc production saw a six per cent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2017. This is a result of lower grades at Lalor, which are in line with the mine plan.
Copper remained consistent compared to the same period last year.
Ore mined at Lalor increased, while ore mined at 777 declined. Hudbay attributes the decline to ground conditions warranting rehabilitation of headings, as well as changes being made to adapt to more challenging operating conditions as the mine ages.
Ore processed in Flin Flon was five per cent higher than the same period last year, due to the transfer of excess ore from Lalor to the Flin Flon concentrator.
Hudbay also released information on the 2018 plan for Lalor mine, which includes mining of the gold zone for processing in Flin Flon. Hudbay reports that trade-off studies have been ongoing to assess the mining and processing options for gold mineral resources at Lalor. Test mining has confirmed the possibility of using selective methods to mine fewer tonnes at a higher grade than currently reported in the mineral resource estimate.
Over the remainder of the year, Hudbay intends to continue test mining of the gold lenses. Ongoing exploration is targeting at converting gold mineral resources to mineral reserves at Lalor and greenfield gold exploration efforts in Snow Lake.
