Coeur Mining’s expanded Rochester mine reaches commercial production, shares rise

Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE) shares rose on Tuesday after announcing that it has achieved commercial production at its newly expanded Rochester silver and gold mine in Nevada.

Since commissioning of the new three-stage crushing circuit and truck load-out facility was completed on March 7, the crushing circuit has operated at an average throughput of nearly 70,000 tonnes per day, according to the company.

Ramp-up to full design capacity of 88,000 tonnes per day — or approximately 32 million tonnes per year— remains on schedule for completion during the first half of 2024.

Approximately 9.3 million tonnes of ore have now been placed on the new Stage 6 leach pad, which, together with the new Merrill Crowe processing facility, was commissioned late last year.

Located in Pershing county, Nevada, the Rochester mine first began in 1986. After a brief pause between 2007-2010, operations resumed in 2011.

Once operating at full capacity, throughput levels are expected to be approximately 2.5 times higher than historical levels, making Rochester one of the world’s largest open-pit heap-leach operations.

Rochester is also expected to be the largest source of US produced and refined silver.

Shares of Coeur Mining rose 3.7% by 11:24 p.m. EDT. The miner has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion.