In its unaudited first quarter earnings release, Silver Wheaton announced a production record of 10.4 million silver equivalent ounces (6.3 million oz of silver and 55,100 oz of gold), compared with 9 million equivalent ounces in the first quarter of 2014. Attributable silver equivalent sales volume for Q1 2015 were 7.7 million oz (5.7 million oz of silver and 28,400 oz of gold), compared with 8.1 million oz in Q1 2014, representing a decrease of 5%. Payable silver equivalent ounces attributable to the company produced but not yet delivered increased by 1.6 million oz to approximately 6.5 million oz. The average realized sale price per silver equivalent ounce sold in Q1 2015 was $16.90 ($16.95/oz for silver and $1,214/oz for gold), compared with $20.38/oz in Q1 2014, representing a decrease of 17%.
During the quarter, Silver Wheaton announced that it had amended its silver purchase agreement related to Barrick Gold’s Pascua-Lama project, located on the border of Chile and Argentina. It also acquired from Vale S.A. an additional 25% of the life of mine gold production from its Salobo mine, located in Brazil, for an upfront payment of $900 million.
“Silver Wheaton had a strong start to 2015, with record production in the first quarter and the addition of more gold from one of our cornerstone assets. For the first time in our history, Silver Wheaton produced more than 10 million silver equivalent ounces in one quarter. While the quarterly sales volumes did not reflect the record production, we recognize that this is simply a timing issue and we fully expect to see increased sales as the year progresses,” said Randy Smallwood, president and CEO of Silver Wheaton. “Our record first quarter production was driven by the recent acquisition of an additional 25% of gold from the Salobo mine in Brazil, as well as the first contributions of gold and silver from the Constancia mine in Peru.”
