London, May 2, 2026, 23:06 BST
Fresnillo PLC’s London shares last traded at 3,255p, up 0.62%, after a volatile week for the Mexican precious- metals miner. The stock moved between 3,113p and 3,282p in Friday’s session, market data showed.
The move matters because it came while London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% in thin trading ahead of a UK public holiday, and as Reuters reported spot silver up 3% and gold edging higher after earlier losses. For Fresnillo, a big silver producer, that metals move gave investors something fresher to trade than last month’s production miss.
The operating backdrop is less clean. Fresnillo said on April 22 that first-quarter attributable silver production fell 8.5% from the fourth quarter to 11.1 million ounces and was down 6.5% from a year earlier. Gold output rose 0.7% on the quarter to 136,074 ounces, but dropped 12.8% year on year; 2026 guidance was kept unchanged.
Friday’s rise did not erase the week’s damage. The shares were still below their April 24 close of 3,370p, after declines on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, a sharp rebound on Thursday, and a smaller gain on Friday.
The production report showed the pressure points. Fresnillo blamed lower ore grades — less metal in each tonne of rock — and lower volumes processed at Saucito, Fresnillo and Juanicipio for weaker silver output. It also cited lower recovery rates, the share of metal a plant extracts during processing.
Chief Executive Octavio Alvídrez said Fresnillo started 2026 “in line with our expectations” and that “ precious metals prices remain resilient,” while the company continued to monitor costs closely. That is the balance investors are being asked to buy: softer mine output, steadier guidance, and high metals prices.
In the wider market, Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at EverBank, told Reuters that “positive news regarding negotiations to end the war with Iran helped gold recover.” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, wrote that silver’s longer-term outlook was supported by a sixth straight annual deficit, shrinking inventories and demand from solar and private investors. Reuters
Fresnillo is not just another UK-listed miner. A company filing described it as the world’s largest primary silver producer and Mexico’s largest gold producer, with eight operating mines in Mexico. That puts it closer to precious-metals peers such as Hochschild Mining and Pan American Silver than to broader London diversified miners, and gives silver prices a sharper read-through to sentiment.
But the risk is plain. Higher silver and gold prices do not fix lower grades, recovery problems or cost pressure. If silver gives back Friday’s rise, or if energy and operating costs stay sticky while output remains uneven, the unchanged guidance could look less comfortable.
The next scheduled governance marker is Fresnillo’s annual general meeting on May 19 in London, after the company filed its 2025 annual report and AGM notice in April. For now, Friday’s price action says investors still want silver exposure — but they are checking the mine plan more closely than before.
