I am very proud of the work that our employees are doing, particularly our colleagues at the mines who are operating in the most challenging of circumstances.
The second quarter results inevitably reflect the impact of Covid-19 on the countries we operate in. However, we remain in a strong financial position and currently expect that the extensive protective measures we have implemented across the organisation will allow our full team to start returning to Inmaculada next week. We look forward to an ambitious second half schedule, particularly in our brownfield drilling programme, and we expect to issue our updated 2020 guidance when we have assessed the full impact of the current suspension.'
Operational highlights
Q2 2020 attributable production:[1]
19,647 ounces of gold
1.1 million ounces of silver
32,712 gold equivalent ounces
2.8 million silver equivalent ounces
H1 2020 attributable production
79,073 ounces of gold
4.1 million ounces of silver
126,835 gold equivalent ounces
10.9 million silver equivalent ounces
Inmaculada expected to ramp up back to full production by end of July
Pallancata operating normally
Full Covid-19 protocols in place at all operations
Full brownfield exploration programme expected to be completed by year-end
Strong financial position despite Covid-19 impact
Total cash of approximately
Net debt of approximately
Net Debt/LTM EBITDA of approximately 0.21x as at
A conference call will be held at
Dial in details as follows:
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US Dial in: +1 646-828-8193
Pin: 7765875#
Please dial into the call approximately ten minutes before the
A recording of the conference call will be available on demand on the Company's website: www.hochschildmining.com
Revised guidance
Due to the temporary suspension of Hochschild's Inmaculada mine in
Overview
In Q2 2020, Hochschild delivered attributable production of 32,712 gold equivalent ounces or 2.8 million silver equivalent ounces with the period impacted by effects of the Covid-19 crisis and the consequent operational stoppage at all three of the Company's mines. The Inmaculada and Pallancata mines were stopped for 11 weeks with operations at each mine resuming on 31 May and 1 June respectively whilst the
Inmaculada's second quarter production was 12,596 ounces of gold and 0.4 million ounces of silver which amounts to a gold equivalent output of 16,984 ounces and represents approximately 25 days of production. As expected, grades rose versus the first quarter. Overall in the first half of 2020, Inmaculada produced 79,604 gold equivalent ounces (H1 2019: 132,915 ounces).
As announced on
In the second quarter, Pallancata produced 372,807 ounces of silver and 1,305 ounces of gold bringing the silver equivalent total to 485,034 ounces. Tonnage resulted from 24 days of production in June with grades higher, as expected, versus the first quarter. Overall in H1 2020, Pallancata's output was 1.8 million silver equivalent ounces (H1 2019: 5.0 million ounces).
The
Average realisable prices and sales
Average realisable precious metal prices in Q2 2020 (which are reported before the deduction of commercial discounts) were
Brownfield exploration
In the second quarter, the brownfield exploration programme was subject to the same restrictions which were implemented to control the spread of Covid-19 and therefore in
Financial position
Total cash was approximately
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Forward looking statements
This announcement may contain forward looking statements. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will or may occur in the future. Actual results, performance or achievements of
The forward looking statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of this announcement. Except as required by the Listing Rules and applicable law, the Board of
Note
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation (EU) No.596/2014). Upon the publication of this announcement via a
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