LONDON, May 1, 2026, 19:04 (BST)
- Fresnillo shares closed at 3,255p on Friday, up 0.62%, after a 3.95% rebound on Thursday.
- The London-listed miner kept 2026 guidance even after first-quarter silver output fell 8.5% from the prior quarter.
- Silver futures were higher on Friday, offering some support to precious-metals miners, though mine grades remain the issue to watch.
Fresnillo PLC shares edged higher on Friday, extending a sharp rebound from the previous session, as investors weighed stronger precious-metals prices against weaker first-quarter silver production at the FTSE 100 miner.
The stock closed at 3,255p, up 0.62%, after rising 3.95% on Thursday. That left the shares below their January high, but steadier after three days of losses earlier in the week.
The move matters because Fresnillo sits at the intersection of two trades now pulling in different directions: higher gold and silver prices on one side, and lower mine output on the other. Silver futures were up 3.23% on Friday, while gold futures were up 0.25%, according to Investing.com market data.
Fresnillo said last week that attributable silver production, meaning output counted to its ownership share, fell to 11.1 million ounces in the first quarter, down 8.5% from the fourth quarter and 6.5% from a year earlier. The company blamed lower ore grades — the amount of metal in the rock mined — and reduced ore volumes at Saucito, Fresnillo and Juanicipio.
Gold output was less weak. The company produced 136,074 ounces of gold, up 0.7% from the previous quarter but down 12.8% from a year earlier, mainly because Herradura processed less ore and had lower grades than in the unusually strong first quarter of 2025.
Chief Executive Octavio Alvídrez said Fresnillo had started 2026 “in line with our expectations,” adding that the company was still watching costs closely. He also said the new leaching pad at Herradura was complete and that ore depositing had begun, while work on the Jarillas shaft at Saucito remained on track for completion later this year.
Fresnillo kept its full-year 2026 guidance unchanged at 42 million to 46.5 million ounces of silver and 500,000 to 550,000 ounces of gold. It also left expected 2027 and 2028 output ranges unchanged, with silver production seen at 45 million to 51 million ounces in each year.
The risk is that the grade problem does not pass quickly. Fresnillo said silver production was hurt by lower grades and throughput, or the volume of ore processed, and said some work at Saucito had slowed after the Jarillas shaft was stopped in March for interconnection work. Ramp haulage is expected to normalise in the second quarter, but the shaft connection is not expected to be concluded until the fourth quarter.
Peer read-through has been mixed but broadly supportive. A Reuters market report said both Fresnillo and Hochschild Mining gained after quarterly production reports, with Hochschild’s gold production coming in above JPMorgan estimates and both companies keeping 2026 guidance unchanged.
Fresnillo remains one of the most direct London-listed bets on silver. The company describes itself as the world’s largest primary silver producer and Mexico’s largest gold producer, with operating mines including Fresnillo, Saucito, Juanicipio, Ciénega, Herradura, Noche Buena and San Julián.
For now, the market is giving the miner some room. But the next leg in the shares may depend less on metal prices alone and more on whether Fresnillo can show that lower grades and shaft work are temporary drags, not a bigger production reset.
