By Sarah Young
Reuters
Fresnillo, the world’s largest primary silver producer, said it would slash costs after posting a 29 percent drop in first-half earnings and cutting its dividend due to a plunge in precious metal prices.
Gold prices have fallen more than 20 percent so far this year, while silver has seen even steeper declines, putting Fresnillo and other miners under intense pressure to cut costs.
Fresnillo, also Mexico’s second-largest gold miner, said it had already managed to reduce drilling contract prices and added it saw further savings from optimising maintenance programmes and milling processes, as well as using fewer explosives.
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