Peru's Buenaventura ups 2024 silver and lead guidance after strong Q2

Peruvian precious metals-focused miner Buenaventura reported another increase in silver production in Q2 and revised upward silver and lead guidance for 2024. 

Guidance for gold, copper and zinc is maintained.

According to the company, the Tambomayo and Yumpag units exceeded expectations in the quarter, with the former producing more gold, lead and zinc. At Yumpag, the full-year silver projection was raised.

Revised guidance is as follows:

Metal	Previous estimate	Current estimate
Gold (ounces)	131,500 - 146,700	131,500- 146,700
Silver (million ounces)	13.0 - 14.6	14.0 - 15.4
Lead (tons)	16,300 - 18,700	17,400 - 20,000
Zinc (tons)	24,100 - 26,900	24,300 - 26,800
Copper (tons)	55,000 - 60,000	55,000 - 60,000

Source: Buenaventura

The figures consider production of mines 100%-held by Buenaventura – Uchucchacua, Yumpag, Julcani, Orcopampa, Tambomayo and La Zanja – and also El Brocal and Coimolache in which it has stakes of 61.43% and 40.09%, respectively.

According to the company, production at the rest of the mines was in line with expectations.

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GOLD

Buenaventura said its attributable gold production amounted to 35,247oz in Q2, down from 43,158oz in the first quarter but in line with estimates.

Tambomayo produced 8,934oz, a figure that "exceeded estimates due to a positive reconciliation of gold, lead and zinc grades in relation to the medium-term production program," according to the report.

The largest gold contribution, however, came from Orcopampa with 17,569oz while La Zanja’s was 2,303oz, up from 1,389oz. El Brocal was the only unit that reduced its contribution, from 6,675oz in Q1 to 3,981oz in Q2.

Although Buenaventura maintained gold guidance at 131,500- 146,700oz for 2024, the figure is expected to be less than 2023’s 155,334oz.

SILVER

Buenaventura's attributable silver production of 3.75Moz, compared to 2.78Moz the previous quarter, is explained by the resumption of Uchucchacua and the start-up of Yumpag.

Ucchuchacua contributed 409,481oz and Yumpag 2.46Moz in Q2, much higher than expected in the case of the latter. “Silver production exceeded our estimates for 2Q24 due to the fact that ore processing began earlier than expected (March 2024). Initially, it was expected to obtain the permit to start activities in May 2024,” the report says.

El Brocal's silver contribution of 312,440oz was lower than the previous quarter’s 873,020oz. Tambomayo and Julcani contributed 380,370oz and 442,400oz, respectively, both up on Q1.

COPPER

Copper production – basically at El Brocal – dropped from 15,442t in the first three months to 10,123t due to the 16-day voluntary suspension of the processing plant in May.

According to Buenaventura, the suspension was from May 22 to June 7 and some 220,000t of ore were accumulated pending processing. “Processing of these stored inventories, combined with mine production, will gradually increase production until reaching a processing rate of 15,000t/d. “El Brocal is expected to reach its copper production target for the first nine months in September 2024,” added the miner.

LEAD AND ZINC

Lead production totaled 4,383t in Q2, down from 5,187t the previous quarter but up from 2,199t in 2Q23 and within guidance. Tambomayo’s production was higher than expected at 1,085t in 2Q24.

Finally, zinc production was 6,352t, up from 4,962t in 2Q23, and 15,165t in 1H24. Tambomayo produced 2,812t and Uchucchacua 10,368t in the six-month period.