Fresnillo Misses Silver Output Target; Sees Roughly Stable Production in 2024

By Christian Moess Laursen

Fresnillo met its overall production target for 2023 despite a miss to silver output, and expects roughly stable production this year.
The world’s leading silver producer said Wednesday that it produced 56.3 million ounces silver in 2023, up from the prior-year output of 53.7 million ounces. However, this missed the targeted range of between 57.0 million and 64.0 million ounces.

The on-year increase was driven by the ramp-up at Juanicipio and higher ore grade at San Julian, the Mexican precious-metals miner said.
Meanwhile, gold production fell to 610,646 ounces from 635,926 ounces, due to a decrease in production at Noche Buena as the site approached the end of its mine life. It had targeted an output between 590,000 and 640,000 ounces.
Despite the miss to silver-production guidance, Fresnillo reached its overall output target for 2023 as it produced 105.1 million silver-equivalent ounces. It had targeted 104 million-115 million ounces.
For this year, the FTSE 100-listed company targets total silver production between 55.0 and 62.0 million ounces, while expecting gold production of 580,000 to 630,000 ounces.
Expressed in silver-equivalent ounces, production is expected to be between 101 million and 112 million ounces.
Write to Christian Moess Laursen at christian.moess@wsj.com