Hochschild jumps after analyst presentation

Americas-focused precious metals miner Hochschild Mining surged on Thursday afternoon after delivering a presentation to analyst and investors in London, in which it underlined its prospects for the coming years.

As previously announced last week, the company's production target for 2012 is 20m attributable silver equivalent ounces, down from the 22.6m ounce target it hit in 2011.

But the company has put its faith in its mines for its long-term future, slating a $90m budget for exploration in 2012, the biggest in the firm's history.

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On January 11th, the firm announced that after successfully completing two feasibility studies the company is set to increase production from 2014 by almost 50%

An independent consultant carried out the studies on the Inmaculada and Crespo projects, both of which are now on track to start production in the fourth quarter of 2013. The studies revealed that they are both profitable projects, with a combined average attributable production of around 10m silver equivalent ounces per annum providing strong growth profile.

Shares were up 8.99% at 513p in afternoon trade. The stock has gained 32% in the last month, a period in which it announced the feasibility studies reports and its fourth quarter production figures.

The stock may be getting an extra lift today from rising metals prices on the back of last night's move by the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low for a longer time.

BC