US markets post slight gain, July 6-10

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.96% to 26,075.30 and the S&P 500 rose 1.76% to 3,185.04 during the July 6-10 trading week. Spot gold jumped US$24.20 per oz., or 1.36%, to US$1,798.60 per ounce.

Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) rose by 26.02% to US$4.02 per share following preliminary production results for the second quarter from its Greens Creek mine in Alaska, Lucky Friday in Idaho, San Sebastian in Mexico, Casa Berardi in Quebec, and the Fire Creek, Hollister, and Midas mines in Nevada. The company reported total production of 3.4 million ounces of silver and 59,982 ounces of gold for silver equivalent production of 12.5 million oz. or gold equivalent production of 119,037 ounces. Production guidance for 2020 is 10.9 million to 11.8 million oz. of silver and 195,000 to 208,000 oz. of gold. The company produced 6.6 million oz. of silver and 119,037 oz. of gold during the first six months of the year. Hecla also noted that it has reduced its borrowing under a revolving credit facility from US$200 million to US$50 million. Currently it has about US$76 million in cash.

Eldorado Gold’s (TSX: ELD; NYSE: EGO) shares rose by 15.9% to US$11.15 per share. The Vancouver-headquartered company, which owns mines in Turkey, Greece and Canada, reported preliminary total production in the second quarter of 137,782 ounces of gold, a 50% year-on-year increase.

Shares of Kirkland Lake Gold (TSXV: KL; NYSE: KL) rose to $62.37 per share, up 11.04%. The company announced second-quarter production totalling 329,770 ounces of gold, an increase of 115,177 oz. or 54% from the same period in 2019. For the year-to-date, the company has produced 660,634 oz. of gold, an increase of 214,162 ounces or 48% higher than it produced during the first half of 2019. In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, Kirkland revised its production guidance for 2020 in June and now stands at 1.35 to 1.4 million oz. of gold. At the end of June Kirkland had a cash position of US$537 million and no debt.

Freeport-McMoran’s (NYSE: FCX) shares rose by 12.78% to US$12.97. The company updated investors on July 6 about its revised operating plans due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. Freeport said it expects its copper sales in the second quarter of the year will exceed its estimate in April of 690 million lbs. by about 8%. It forecasts that its gold sales will also surpass its April estimate of 165,000 ounces by about 10%. At a copper price of US$2.54 per lb., Freeport said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in the second quarter would come in at about US$650 million.