Minefinders Q2 profits surge, upholds production guidance

Minefinders Corp. (TSE:MFL, AMEX:MFN), a Canadian precious metals explorer, said revenue more than doubled in the second-quarter benefiting from higher metal prices and improved operations at its Dolores mine, in Mexico.
"We are pleased with our results for the second quarter,” Mark Bailey Chief Executive of Minefinders said in a statement.
“Our initiatives to improve operations at Dolores are paying off and we are also benefiting from higher metal prices.”
Revenue more than doubled to $73.1 million in the second-quarter that ended June 30. That compares with $21.6 million in the year-earlier quarter.
Gold production rose 42% to 19,571 ounces, up from 13,783 ounces.
Minefinders produced one million ounces of silver, compared with 277,147 ounces, in the previous quarter.
The company said gold and silver production grew because of higher average gold and silver grades stacked to the leach pad in previous quarters.
Gold and silver grades of ore stacked to the leach pad averaged 0.49 grams per tonne and 40.85 grams per tonne, respectively.
It said the increase stems from sequencing in the open pit and mining practice improvements which have decreased dilution.
The company maintained its production guidance for 2011 logged at 65,000 to 70,000 ounces of gold and 3.3 million to 3.5 million ounces of silver at a cost of $450 and $500 per gold ounce.
It expects capital expenditures to be $45.4 million, up from its previous forecast of $39.5 million on account for buying three 100 tonne haul trucks and one mining excavator.
Minefinders continues to assess a milling operation and the development of an underground resource at Dolores, while exploration drilling continues at La Virginia.
All the while, permitting is underway and firm has been contracted to provide detailed engineering to advance the La Bolsa project toward a construction decision.
Vancouver-based Minefinders is a precious metals mining and exploration company and operates the Dolores gold and silver mine in Mexico. The company has other mineral property interests in northern Mexico and in the United States, which are in the early exploration stage.