US markets fall during Apr. 18-22 trading week

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 600.29 points or 1.77% to 33,811.40 and the S&P 500 fell 119.91 points or 2.8% over the week to 4,271.78. 

Shares of Endeavour Silver fell 20.3% to US$4.44 as the price of silver fell by 6.4% to US$24.34 per oz. during the week. On Apr. 13, the company reported high-grade drill results from its ongoing exploration program at the Guanacevi mine in Mexico’s Durango state. Highlights from program included 7.5 metres grading 5.83 grams gold per tonne and 2,067 grams silver starting from 90.4 metres in drill hole UCM-93; and 7.6 metres grading 1.89 grams gold per tonne and 975 grams silver starting from 101.6 metres in drill hole UCM-94. (Both holes represent true widths.) “The drill results…are amongst some of the highest-grade intercepts we have seen at Guanacevi to date,” the company’s CEO Dan Dickson said in a press release. From December 2021 to March 2022, the company drilled 2,842 metres in 16 holes at Guanacevi from underground.       

Shares of Alcoa fell 23.2% to US$67.37 as the company announced its most recent quarterly results. The company’s primary aluminum production decreased 10% compared to the previous quarter on the curtailment of the San Ciprián smelter and fewer days in the quarter. Production in the alumina segment was down 2% primarily on fewer days in the quarter and lower production from the Australian refineries. Analysts say that the quarter’s results were largely in line with expectations, but incremental cost pressures and lower expected bauxite results in future are a concern. The company’s net income of US$469 million, or US$2.49 per share, improved from the prior quarter’s net loss of US$392 million, or US$2.11 per share.  

Shares of Hecla Mining fell 15.2% to US$6.06 as the company announced its quarterly results on Apr. 12. The company reported consolidated production of 3.3 million oz. silver, 41,600 oz. gold, 10,900 tonnes of lead and 14,900 tonnes of zinc. While its silver production was 1% higher than forecast by BMO Capital Markets’ mining analysts, its gold, lead and zinc production were 2%,7% and 6% lower, respectively. The company’s Greens Creek mine in southeast Alaska produced 2.4 million oz. of silver and 11,400 oz. gold, which exceeded BMO’s forecasts by 11% and 9% respectively. However, the 30,200 oz. of gold produced at Casa Berardi in Quebec, was 6% lower than the expected estimate of 32,100 oz. gold, and a decrease from the 37,300 oz. produced in the fourth quarter of 2021. Hecla noted that the decrease was in line with expectations as the company sourced lower-grade open pit ore from the 160 Pit, which commenced production in the last quarter. The Lucky Friday mine in northern Idaho, produced 888,000 oz. of silver, missing BMO’s forecast of 1.1 million oz. by 20%. The company said that fewer tonnes and lower silver grades were mined due to equipment delays that impacted mine sequencing.