Coeur d’Alene Mines posts another big loss
Officials put figure in the $5.4 million range
Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. anticipates posting a third quarter loss similar to the $5.4 million loss it posted during the second quarter, company officials said Monday.
Officials cited lower silver prices and high operating costs at mines in Chile and Bolivia as contributing factors. The company will release its third quarter results Oct. 31.
Silver is trading near $11 an ounce after briefly touching above $20 last spring.
The Coeur d’Alene-based company expects to produce 13 million ounces of silver this year.
Startup costs at San Bartolome Mine in Bolivia remain high, though the mine is on track to produce about 3.2 million ounces of silver this year, officials said.
Production costs are also high at the Cerro Bayo Mine in Chile, where work is transitioning out of older sections of the mine into new veins, according to Coeur d’Alene Mines.
Eventually, operating costs should come down at both properties, company officials said.
Meanwhile, Coeur d’Alene Mines is looking at companywide savings. As part of that effort, half of the workers at the proposed Kensington gold mine in Alaska recently lost their jobs.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide next year whether the Kensington operation can dispose of its mine tailings in a freshwater lake in Tongass National Forest.