First Majestic Silver (NYSE: AG) announced a 20% year-on-year increase of silver equivalent ounces in its 2Q, which was released today.
The company produced 7.7 million silver equivalent ounces representing a 20% increase when compared to the second quarter of 2021 primarily due to the acquisition of Jerritt Canyon and successful ramp up of the Ermitaño mine at Santa Elena.
Gold ounces was up 28% to 58,891 ounces while silver was down 15% to 2.6 million ounces.
Jerritt disappointed, producing 18,632 ounces of gold, a 10% decrease compared to the prior quarter. The company said that the decrease was primarily due to a major failure in the oxygen plant to produce liquid oxygen which significantly reduced roasting capacity over a two-week period in May.
"In the second quarter we saw strong production of 7.7 million silver equivalent ounces, a 20% increase year-over-year," said Keith Neumeyer, President and CEO. "In the second half of 2022, we anticipate a further 25% production increase in our total silver equivalent ounces. This increase in production is being propelled by significant growth at both the Santa Elena and Jerritt Canyon operations. At Jerritt Canyon, we successfully restarted the West Generator mine and expect to bring Saval II into production by October. These two mines, in addition to operational improvements at SSX, are expected to nearly double the amount of fresh ore feed to the plant in addition to increasing the average head grades. As a result of these production improvements, costs at Jerritt Canyon are projected to drop significantly over the next two quarters."
The company said that cash costs in the second half of 2022 are expected to trend lower to within the range of $12.09 to $12.85 per AgEq ounce, primarily due to higher gold production at both Santa Elena and Jerritt Canyon. In addition, AISC are expected to be within a range of $16.09 to $17.27 per AgEq ounce in the second half of 2022.
Guidance for the year was narrowed to 32.5 to 34.6 million AgEq ounces.
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