Fresnillo has reaffirmed its production guidance for 2025 and the following two years, even as the Mexico-focused precious metals producer reported a quarterly decline in both gold and silver output due to lower ore grades and the cessation of mining at key sites. The company’s first-quarter results showed attributable gold production rose 11% year-on-year, largely driven by higher ore grades, increased volumes processed, and improved recovery rates at the Herradura mine. However, this was offset by lower ore grades at Saucito and reduced ore grades and processing volumes at Cienega.
Attributable silver production for the quarter dropped 8.4% compared to the previous year, reflecting the impact of the end of mining at San Julian and lower ore grades and processing volumes at Cienega. Compared to the prior quarter, gold production fell 24% to 156,100 ounces, while silver output declined 9.7% to 12.4 million ounces.
Despite these declines, Fresnillo maintained its previous outlook for 2025, projecting attributable silver production between 49.0 million and 56.0 million ounces, and gold production between 525,000 and 580,000 ounces. This guidance is lower than the company’s 2024 output of 56.3 million ounces of silver and 631,573 ounces of gold. Lead and zinc production are also expected to decrease, with 2025 forecasts set at 56,000 to 62,000 tonnes for lead and 93,000 to 103,000 tonnes for zinc, down from 66,400 and 116,646 tonnes, respectively, in 2024.
The company confirmed that its output expectations for 2026 and 2027 remain unchanged. Following the report, Fresnillo shares fell 6.5% to 972.00 pence in London trading.
