Coeur reports strong second quarter, gold production triples at Kensington

The parent company of the Kensington Mine near Juneau is reporting strong second quarter sales and production figures.

Coeur d’Alene Mines produced about 4.9-million ounces of silver and more than 63,000 ounces of gold during the three-month period that ended June 30th. That translates to more than $254-million dollars in sales.

On a conference call for investors this morning (Tuesday), Senior Vice President of Operations Randy Buffington said Kensington gold production nearly tripled from the first quarter, to more than 21,500 ounces. He says recently completed infrastructure improvements at the Berners Bay mine led to a 50 percent reduction in operating costs, to $1,348 per ounce of gold produced.

“We remain focused on achieving sustainable production levels at Kensington, and expect cash operating costs per ounce to decline further to $900 per gold ounce by the end of the year,” Buffington said.

Coeur continues to look for new deposits at Kensington. Miners conducted nearly 15,000 feet of core drilling during the second quarter. Most of it was in an area called Raven, located about 2,000 feet west of the main ore body. Additional exploration drilling took place in an area called Kensington south.

The company also conducted a helicopter-borne geophysical survey to identify future drill targets.

Coeur’s other mines and assets are located in Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina, Australia and Nevada.

The company’s stock price closed up nearly a dollar on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, at $18.39.

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