Fresnillo forecasts fall in gold production due to landslide
Precious metals miner Fresnillo today said that gold production would fall over the coming year due to a landslip at one of its mines.
The FTSE 100 company said that full year gold output for 2021 was expected to come in at 675 to 725 k/oz.
This year the firm reported production of 769 k/oz, which was itself a 12 per cent fall on 2019.
Shares in the mining giant dropped 4.0 per cent as markets opened this morning.
The drop in production was the result of the coronavirus, which has limited activity across its seven mines in Mexico.
Fresnillo also saw silver production fall 2.9 per cent in 2020, down to 53.1 m/oz.
However, the world’s biggest silver producer said that output would climb back to between 53.5 to 59.5 m/oz in 2021.
Production is expected to be increased by the opening of a new processing plant at Juanicipio in the fourth quarter of the year.
Octavio Alvídrez, chief executive officer, said: “It gives me real pride that despite the challenges, we have delivered a robust operational performance in the final quarter with both gold and silver production in line with expectations.
“We have also successfully progressed our development pipeline during the year.”