Friday, February 27, 2009

Buenaventura Posts Q4 Loss

Peruvian miner Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAA announced on Thursday a loss of $6.1 million in the fourth quarter of last year as the global recession hit prices and sales of silver and base metals.

This compared to a profit of US$120 million in the same quarter of 2007.

Operational income fell 84 percent to $16.9 million in the quarter due to higher contractor expenses and falling prices of zinc, lead and silver.

Sales fell to $155 million, compared with $226.5 million in the same period a year earlier.

Production at Yanacocha, part-owed by Buenaventura and Latin America's largest gold mine, said income for the year was $153.3 million, down from $274.8 million in 2007.

Buenaventura is Peru's largest publicly traded precious metals company and a major holder of mining rights in Peru.

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