Coeur (CDE) Rochester Expansion Project Commences First Pour
Coeur Mining, Inc. CDE announced the first silver and gold ounces production at its Rochester expansion project in Nevada.
CDE announced that metal production from the new Stage VI leach pad and Merill-Crowe process plant leach commenced in the middle of September 2023 , with the first doré poured on Sep 18. Currently, around one-third of the eight million tons of ore on the new pad is being leached.
The Merrill-Crowe plant has a solution flow rate of approximately 3,500 gallons per minute. Coeur Mining expects a full ramp-up to commercial production of 13,000 gallons per minute in early 2024.
The company has also announced that the construction of the three-stage crushing circuit at Rochester is now substantially complete, with the primary gyratory crusher installed. Once fully operational, Coeur Mining estimates throughput to average 32 million tons per year, which is 2.5 times higher than the previous levels.
As a result, Rochester will become one of the world's largest open pit heap leach operations.
In September, a multi-day test of truck and loading capacity was completed at the mine to ensure higher throughput rates associated with the newly configured Rochester circuit. The mine achieved its design capacity, and will support 100,000 tons per day in 2023 and up to 132,000 tons per day in 2024.
Coeur Mining is working on commissioning, ramp-up and mine optimization initiatives.
In the second quarter of 2023, the company reported an adjusted loss of 6 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 5 cents per share. The company recorded revenues of $177 million in the quarter.
Price Performance
Coeur Mining’s shares have fallen 29.8% in the past year against the industry’s 44.7% growth.
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Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Coeur Mining currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the basic materials space are Hawkins, Inc. HWKN, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and L.B. Foster Company FSTR. HWKN and CRS sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, and FSTR carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Hawkins has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWKN’s fiscal 2024 earnings is pegged at $3.40 per share. The consensus estimate for 2024 earnings has moved 38% north in the past 60 days. Its shares gained 62.7% in the last year.
Carpenter Technology has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRS’s fiscal 2024 earnings is pegged at $3.48 per share. The consensus estimate for 2023 earnings has moved 8% north in the past 60 days. Its shares gained 72.9% in the last year.
L.B. Foster has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 134.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FSTR’s 2023 earnings is pegged at 53 cents per share. Earnings estimates have been unchanged in the past 60 days. FSTR’s shares gained 50.4% in the last year.
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