VIRGINIA CITY — Comstock Mining cut quarterly losses by $2 million compared with last year’s first quarter and increased shipments markedly, the mining firm reported Tuesday.
The company said the net loss for the first quarter of 2014 was $3.8 million, down from $5.8 million in the same quarter of 2013, while both gold and silver shipments zoomed. Shipmemts of gold in the first quarter totaled 4,546 ounces, which compared with 2,261 in that quarter last year. Silver shipments hit 49,292 ounces in the January-March quarter this year, compared with 15,599 in those three months of 2013.
The firm said costs for mining during the first quarter reached $4.8 million, compared with $3.8 million in the same 2013 quarter, a 24 percent increase, while ounces shipped more than doubled.
Mining revenue in the first quarter was about $5.6 million, a 53 percent increase compared with the same period of 2013. Average revenue was $1,252.39 per ounce of gold, $20.73 per ounce of silver.
“We are encouraged by the convergence of our results and mine plan,” said Corrado De Gasperis, Comstock chief executive. Comstock is publicly traded under the symbol LODE and closed Tuesday at $1.69, up 2 cents.