Hochschild halts San Jose operations in Argentina

Hochschild Mining PLC (LSE: HOC) has temporarily suspended operations at its San Jose mine due to a significant increase in covid-19 infections in the Santa Cruz province in Argentina.

The company said it is currently undertaking a deep-clean of the site’s facilities and equipment.

Subject to permission from the authorities, Hochschild expects to restart limited operations on December 4, the company said.

The stoppage is not expected to affect the company’s revised full-year guidance of between 280,000-290,000 gold equivalent ounces or 24-25 million silver equivalent ounces.

The miner in April withdrew its earlier output forecast of 422,000 gold equivalent ounces or 36 million silver equivalent ounces, after it was forced to temporarily shut all of its mines due to lockdowns.

The San Jose property is held by Minera Santa Cruz, a joint venture between McEwen Mining Inc. (49%) and Hochschild (51%).

In 2019 silver equivalent production at the mine was 15,390 koz comprised of 6,846 koz of silver and 105.48 koz of gold production. The plant at San Jose has a capacity of 1,500 tonnes per day.