Precious metals miner Coeur Mining has maintained its 2023 silver production guidance, but lowered its gold forecast for the year, citing second-quarter challenges at its Kensington mine, in Alaska.

The company expects to produce between 10-million and 12-million ounces of silver this year. Gold production will be 5% lower than previously forecast at between 304 000 oz and 352 500 oz, taking into account lower-than-planned second-quarter production at Kensington.

Production at Kensington reduced to 13 193 oz in the June quarter, from 20 296 oz in the March quarter and 27 866 oz in the prior-year quarter. Coeur explains that Kensington experienced a weaker quarter, owing to excessive water flows and paste backfill issues, which delayed the timing of production from certain stopes.

Total gold production for the quarter came to 48 406 oz and silver production to 2.4-million ounces.

Higher production from Rochester, in Nevada, and Wharf, in South Dakota, offset the weaker quarter at Kensington. The Palmarejo mine, in Mexico, is Coeur’s biggest operation and it delivered a solid quarter.

Coeur reports that the expansion at Rochester is nearing completion. At the end of July, the project was 97% complete. Initial ounces are expected to be recovered during the next month.

“With the bulk of the multi-year expansion at Rochester now behind us, we look forward to beginning to deliver strong production growth and lower costs from Nevada’s largest primary silver mine,” says president and CEO Mitchell Krebs.

“The team at Rochester is set to achieve a major milestone next month by recovering the first silver and gold ounces from the new leach pad and processing facility. The crushing facility is also expected to be complete this quarter, followed by a ramp-up of the newly expanded operation during the remainder of the year and into early 2024.

“Once ramped up, Rochester is expected to be one of the world’s largest operations of its kind with production rates approximately 2.5 times higher than recent levels, a significantly lower cost structure, combined with the excellent potential to extend and enhance the mine life from its large, prospective, and under-explored land position,” he says.

The estimated ultimate cost to complete the expansion will be between 6% and 9%, or $40-million to $60-million, higher than the prior high-end of guidance.  The company has incurred about $660-million of total project costs through the end of July.