Sierra Metals first-quarter copper and zinc output rose 52% and 32% year on year, respectively, due to higher ore throughout and ore grades despite the impact of coronavirus pandemic-related mine closures in March, the company said Wednesday.
Sierra's copper production reached 11.8 million lbs in Q1, up from 7.7 million lbs a year ago. Zinc output increased to 21.6 million lb from 16.42 million lb in the same quarter last year.
The Toronto-listed miner said total ore throughput during Q1 at its flagship Yauricocha polymetallic mine in Peru increased 22% year on year to 285,225 mt, before the mine closed on March 17 due to Peru's state of emergency, according to a statement released by the company.
"We ran the Yauricocha mine at higher throughput levels to catch up from a strike in 2019 and in Q1 2020 to build up processed tonnage as a buffer against any potential interruptions," Sierra CEO Igor Gonzales said.
At the time of Yauricocha's closure, Sierra said its 2020 production outlook would remain unchanged as the mine was running ahead of budget since the beginning of the year.
However, Sierra said its annual guidance was now under review due to the continued mine closures.
"While we will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the second quarter, we maintain reduced essential services crews at the Yauricocha and Bolivar mines," Gonzales said. "We expect to be able to ramp up quickly to pre-pandemic levels once the state of emergency is withdrawn in Peru and Mexico."
Operations at Yauricocha remained limited to essential maintenance activities until at least April 26, the current deadline for Peru's state of emergency extension.
Yauricocha has the operating flexibility to run the ore processing mill above its 3,150 mt/day capacity, if needed, to support recovery of lost ore tonnages when the mine resumes activity, Sierra said.
Sierra said it also achieved record quarterly ore throughput of 377,562 mt in Q1 at its Bolivar copper mine in Mexico, a 43% increase from Q1 2019.
Operations at Bolivar, which were suspended on March 31, remain limited to essential activities until at least April 30 due to Mexico's order to suspend all non-essential activities in response to the pandemic, Sierra said.
Sierra's lead production also increased 31% year on year in Q1 to 9.1 million lbs. The company's gold output surged 84% in the same period to 3,657 oz.
