North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Coeur Mining Inc. July 6 reported steady gold production at its Kensington Mine in Southeast Alaska.

During the second quarter, Kensington produce 26,424 ounces of gold, nearly identical to first quarter production and 18 percent less than the second quarter of 2016. This dip in production compared to last year is primarily due to anticipated lower ore grades due to mine sequencing.

The average grade of material processed at Kensington during the second quarter was 0.17 ounces per ton gold. This compares to 0.17 oz/t gold in the first quarter and 0.22 oz/t during the said quarter of last year.

Coeur said it anticipated the slump in gold production as the operation processed lower grade ore during the first half of 2017.

The company expects these grades to increase for the balance of 2017.

Despite only producing 52,621 oz of gold through the first half of 2017, Coeur continues to anticipate the underground mine to produce 120,000 to 125,000 oz of gold in 2017, meaning the operation would produce roughly 70,000 oz of gold over the balance of the year.

Development of Jualin, a higher grade deposit at Kensington, remains on pace for initial production later this year.

Coeur's five operations in the United States, Mexico and Bolivia produced 4 million oz of silver and 82,819 oz of gold, or 8.9 million silver-equivalent oz during the first quarter.

-SHANE LASLEY