Hochschild Mining Share Discussion Threads

[cassini] 18/1/2024 17:12

Well, we just hit the uptrend line...

[dogwalker] 11/1/2024 21:20

Yes but not necessarily.In particular for pm miners. Here, HOC's share price is only 'drifting' back to its uptrend line at...c.85.5p.

[nilla159] 11/1/2024 17:37

That's 8 straight days in a row that the share price of Hoc has gone down.
Seems to be a market correction underway. That is everything is falling, a poor start in January is a bad omen for the year historically.

[stevea171] 09/1/2024 10:08

24/1/24. Q4 2023 Production Results.

9/1/24. Berenberg raises Hochschild Mining price target to 140 (130) pence - 'buy' ... Hochschild Mining PLC, 91.85 GBX.

[stevea171] 27/12/2023 22:07

Serra Verde is another RE project also in Goias, Brazil. They have spent years in exploration & development, have a mine and processing facility built with US funding costing some hundreds of millions of dollars and is now starting up production.

This project is extracting RE's from near surface clays plus processing as are Aclara's but a few years ahead. It is proof that all regulation processes through to production have been obtained and should also be available to Aclara for its Goias project.

Serra Verde receives operating license for Brazil rare earths project
Published: Tuesday, December 26, 2023

"Receiving the LO means that Serra Verde has received all the necessary regulatory approvals to operate its project, and can now complete the commissioning and put into operation by the end of this year phase I of the mine and the production plant... starting commercial production," the company said in a statement on Friday.

[stevea171] 27/12/2023 21:47

Executive interview: Ramón Barua Costa, CEO, Aclara Resources
Global Business Reports | December 26, 2023

[stevea171] 26/12/2023 20:28

Aclara Rare Earths Pilot Plant - August 2023.

[stevea171] 22/12/2023 10:11

HOC recent video:

[stevea171] 22/12/2023 08:40

22/12/23. BBC.
"deregulating mining". This should be useful in the future for San Jose.

"In a speech broadcast on radio and TV, President Milei detailed some of 300 measures, marking what he called only a first step towards reconstruction.

They include privatising state companies and deregulating mining and other industries. The president said he would cancel the law regulating property rent.

He explained what he hoped the measures would achieve: "The goal is to start along the path to rebuilding our country, restore freedom and autonomy to individuals and begin dismantling the vast array of regulations that have hindered and stalled economic growth in our country.""

[stevea171] 21/12/2023 22:03

At last it's coming good for HOC's San Jose mine. Devaluation of the peso plus:

San Jose forecasts
• 10% increase in underground production through shift improvements

• Open pit mining of newly discovered near-to-surface mineralisation adding to UG

• Ongoing evaluation of +15% plant throughput increase with modest investment

[stevea171] 21/12/2023 09:36

Significant changes at the top for HOC:

Eduardo Landin. Chief Executive Officer. Chartered Mechanical Engineer from Imperial College, London. He became CEO of Hochschild Mining in August 2023. Prior to that, he served as COO of the Company from March 2013. He joined the Company in January 2008 as General Manager of Argentinian operations.

Rodrigo Nunes. Chief Operating Officer. Mining Engineering degree, and a Master of Science, Mining and Mineral Engineering degree from the Universidade de São Paulo.
He was appointed COO of Hochschild Mining in August 2023. Rodrigo joined Hochschild in 2021 as Corporate Director, Technical Services & Projects, covering the Company's operations, development projects and M&A efforts globally.

Eduardo Noriega. Chief Financial Officer. MBA from the University of Texas.
He was appointed CFO of Hochschild Mining on 10 December 2021 having joined the Company in March 2007.

[stevea171] 21/12/2023 08:35

(cont). This update follows the successful completion of our initial piloting operation for the Penco Module ionic clays in September of this year where a total of 120 tonnes of ionic clays were processed, leading to the production of approximately 107 kilograms of wet, high-purity Heavy Rare Earth Elements ("HREE") carbonate. The pilot operation also underscored the sustainability attributes inherent in Aclara's Circular Mineral Harvesting process.

The short-term catalysts for the Carina Module project development will be (i) the production of samples by processing the Project’s ionic clays at Aclara’s pilot plant in Chile from December 2023 until the end of February 2024, (ii) the completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) in January 2024, and (iii) pursuit of additional resources at depth through the completion of a 9,090-meter reverse circulation (“RC”) drilling campaign, which is already underway and scheduled to be completed in Q2 2024.

[stevea171] 20/12/2023 14:17

Carina Module ionic clays arrive at our pilot plant in Chile for heavy rare earths carbonate production

TORONTO, ON, December 20, 2023 – Aclara Resources Inc. (TSX: ARA) is pleased to announce that the 25-tonne shipment of ionic clays extracted from its Carina Module deposit located in Goiás, Brazil, has successfully arrived at its fully owned pilot plant facility in Concepción, Chile. The Company will start the piloting operation at the end of December and aims to complete it at the end of February 2024.

Piloting Objectives
Semi-industrial scale processing: To assess the compatibility of the patented Circular Mineral Harvesting technology with the Carina Module ionic clays on a semi-industrial scale.
Production of heavy rare earth carbonate samples for commercial purposes: To produce a premium heavy rare earths carbonate product and initiate discussions with potential separators and other commercial stakeholders.

Aclara COO, Barry Murphy, commented:
"Following the release of the mineral resource estimate for the Carina Module, we are looking to initiate commercial discussions while commencing the production of heavy rare earth carbonate samples over the next two months at our piloting facilities in Chile. We have confidence in the outstanding quality of this asset and remain dedicated to accelerating the project development process across all disciplines to expedite the asset's production at the earliest feasible time."

[stevea171] 19/12/2023 18:36

Nilla. Another long termer! Many thanks.
Streamlining. Costs coming down across the board incl the long delayed closure of mined out, leading to high cost, Pallancata. A better mix of operations and country diversification with Mara Rosa gold starting up and movement towards getting rid of some of the dead wood projects HOC has been carrying for the past decade plus.

[nilla159] 19/12/2023 15:31

Thanks also for the input Steve, very reassuring.
I think we are turning the corner and I am still invested for the long term.
Good to have you back on the thread.

[stevea171] 19/12/2023 12:26

Tuscan. Thanks. A lot of new stuff going on here now and a turn around in progress.

Ultimately the silver in a PM bull market and the RE's should result in a premium price for the business which is not (just) a gold miner!

[tuscan4] 19/12/2023 11:45

steve171, Many Thanks for your very useful posts. Please keep up the good work.

[stevea171] 19/12/2023 11:23

Recent Inmaculada video:

[stevea171] 18/12/2023 18:39

Mara Rosa (Brazil) 100k oz gold pa from Q1/24. Cost $200 million.

Video:

From this video and recent HOC presentation it can be seen that construction is virtually complete with mainly electro/mechanical assembly in progress but 89% complete.
It seems we may have the mine start up early next year.

CEO says that the processing facility has been designed with 'gaps' to accomodate new installations to increase production capacity from 100k oz pa by 10 or 20% if exploration for new resources is successful.
It is thought that another 1 million gold oz may be discovered from near mine drilling.

Mara Rosa: on track to first production
End-Q3 Project Progress: 99%
• Project progressing on time and on budget
• Pre-stripping extraction is at a 79% progress
• Dry stacking construction 98% completed
• Civil works completed
• Electromechanical assembly 89% complete
• Power line completed
• Health & safety standards fully implemented: ~4m+ hours without lost-time accidents
• Operational permit application filed

• ESG programmes advancing:
– 1,000+ visited “knowledge trail”
– Purchases from local suppliers: $9m+
– 320 people from Mara Rosa/Amaralina towns currently employed

[stevea171] 18/12/2023 11:21

22/11/23. HOC's view of the present Peruvian Government's relationship to the mining sector after the recent stormy period. If this is maintained permitting for mining the 100k GEO/yr Royropata deposit near Pallancata may be accelerated.

Peru is back in business and promoting mining

• Current government has made mining a priority
• Actively promoting mining investment:

– High-level government delegations at key mining conferences (PDAC, Perumin, IMARC)
– Strengthened “Delivery Unit” in Ministry of Economy & Finance to guide permitting for key investment projects
– Approved critical permits for key mining projects:
Zafranal (Teck), Inmaculada (HOC), Toromocho (Chinalco)

• Launched several initiatives to streamline mine permitting:

– High-level commission led by PM to coordinate/facilitate investment projects in key sectors, incl. mining
– Single permitting platform for mining permits
– Simplify environmental permitting and indigenous prior consultation process for exploration

[stevea171] 18/12/2023 09:37

HOC is now getting more coverage due to promotion back to the Ftse250.

Gold mining is once again in favour with gold around $2000 but the kickers here are the new 100k oz/yr gold mine at Mara Rosa, Brazil which is near complete and due to start production in just a few months time, significant silver (silver 30%, gold 70%) coming from Inmaculada and San Jose and the 20% holding of Rare Earths company Aclara.

Funds will follow as many benchmark their investments to Ftse100/Ftse250 stocks.

The following table lists the FTSE 250 companies after the changes on 15 December 2023.

Hochschild Mining HOC Basic Resources

[stevea171] 18/12/2023 08:14

Midas: "Dividend payments, suspended last year, are high on the agenda too, not least because Eduardo Hochschild remains a 38 per cent shareholder."

[stevea171] 18/12/2023 07:47

Canaccord initiates coverage. 14 Dec 2023. TP 145p.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage on silver and gold miner Hochschild Mining at 'buy' with a 145.0p target price on Thursday, stating its Mara Rosa project was a "potential catalyst for turnaround".

Hochschild Mining operates three gold mines located in Peru and Argentina and is currently in the process of constructing its fourth mine located in Brazil, which Canaccord Genuity believes could be at "a profitability inflection point" for the first time in three years.

Canaccord thinks 2023 will mark an adjusted underlying earnings low of roughly $200.0m, driven by weak production at its Inmaculada and Pallancata mines but also higher costs across all operations. However, the analysts also noted we were "almost at the point" where 2023 was in the rearview mirror.

"Production guidance for 2024 given at the recent capital markets day was much stronger than we anticipated at Mara Rosa - we think reflecting management confidence in the ramp-up ahead. We forecast 70k oz of production in 2024, below guidance of 83-93k oz. Overall, this leaves our 2024 attributable production forecast at 331k oz vs guidance at 343-360k oz," said Canaccord.

"We forecast operating costs to remain high in 2024, as well as capex. For this reason, we forecast peak net debt in mid-2024, followed by a significant deleveraging to occur from 2H24 all the way into 2026. We also use a conservative gold price forecast of sub-US$2000/oz until 3Q25, which we think provides some potential upside to our forecasts should gold prices hold."

The Canadian bank also reckons that the first gold pour and commercial production at Mara Rosa should provide two strong near-term potential catalysts for Hochschild in the first and second quarters of 2024, respectively.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com