US markets rise slightly, Jan. 8-12

Gold closed Friday at US$1,337.40 per oz., up US$18.60 per ounce. The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both rose 2% to 89.11 and 25,803.19. The S&P 500 gained 1.57% to close at 2,786.24.

Shares of Coeur Mining rose 15.2% to US$8.55. The company recently sold its wholly owned subsidiary Empresa Minera Manquiri to Argentum Investments. Manquiri owns and operates the San Bartolomé silver mine near Potosi, Bolivia.

Coeur president and CEO Mitchell J. Krebs said the sale reflects Coeur’s strategy to optimize its portfolio and “focus on developing and operating high-quality North American assets.” He went on to say the mine’s short remaining life and high operating costs were contributing factors to the decision to sell.

Coeur will retain a 2% net smelter returns royalty (NSR) on all metals. It estimates the NSR has a value of US$5 million.

Shares of Alamos Gold fell 9.1% to US$6.12. Despite the dip, the company reported strong fourth quarter and year-end operating results. Alamos produced 429,400 oz. gold in 2017, a 10% increase over the previous year. It also set a new company record for fourth-quarter production at 120,300 oz. of gold.

In 2018, the company expects to raise gold production to between 480,000 and 520,000 oz., and increase its exploration budget by 50% to US$36 million. Exploration will be focused on its currently producing Island Gold and Mulatos gold mines.

Mulatos produced 160,000 oz. of gold in 2017 while Island Gold, acquired through the purchase of Richmont Mines in November, produced only 9,000 oz. of gold from the time of acquisition to the end of the fiscal year.

Hecla Mining shares rose 8.9% to US$4.41. Hecla is coming off a strong year as it produced the second highest volume of silver in its 126-year history. The Idaho based company produced 12.5 million oz. of silver and 232,685 oz. of gold in 2017.

The company relied on its Greens Creek silver mine in Alaska and its San Sebastian silver-gold mine in Mexico to compensate for an ongoing strike at its Lucky Friday silver mine near Mullan, Idaho. Miners at Lucky Friday have been on strike since March 2017 after the labour contract expired a year earlier.