Coeur Mining, owner of the Kensington Gold Mine northwest of Juneau, reported lower third-quarter earnings on Monday, due in part to the declining price of gold and silver.
Silver prices were 10 percent lower during the third quarter than the second quarter of 2015, and gold prices were 5 percent lower, the company reported. Compared to the third quarter of 2014, this year’s prices were 25 percent lower for silver and 11 percent lower for gold.
The company cut its operating costs quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year to slow the decline, but revenue still dropped almost $4 million from the second quarter and is down more than $8 million from the same period last year.
At Kensington, 28,799 ounces of gold were produced during the third quarter, down from 30,773 during the same period last year.
Costs per ounce were down $47 in the same period — from $889 per ounce to $842 per ounce.
In August, Kensington began digging toward the Jualin deposit, a high-value gold region that is expected to begin production early next year.
According to company estimates, Kensington is expected to produce 115,000 to 125,000 ounces of gold in 2015.
