First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE: AG) (TSX: AG) produced 3.4 million ounces of silver and 29,552 ounces of gold in the third quarter of 2026, alongside 13.3 million pounds of zinc and 7.8 million pounds of lead.
Production was down for silver and gold versus the second quarter. Even so, the company’s four Mexican mines processed 1,088,708 tonnes of ore on an attributable basis. That was up 5% from the prior quarter and 9% from a year earlier.
Los Gatos remained the largest contributor with 1,245,178 attributable ounces of silver. Its mill ran at 3,994 tonnes per operating day on a 100% basis, just shy of the company’s 4,000-tonne target, with grades averaging 200 g/t silver and recoveries of 86%.
At Santa Elena, which produced 368,333 ounces of silver and 18,489 ounces of gold, planned downtime for the 3,500 tonne per day expansion trimmed quarterly throughput. The mill still posted a record August of 104,000 tonnes, and gold recoveries improved to 94%.
La Encantada delivered the strongest gain of the group. Silver production climbed 68% year over year to 967,067 ounces, as throughput rose 27% to 346,449 tonnes and grades improved to 132 g/t from 100 g/t.
San Dimas accounted for most of the quarterly decline. A labour dispute disrupted operations for 12 days, and the mine produced 859,869 ounces of silver and 10,386 ounces of gold, down from the same period last year. The dispute slowed the flow of fresh ore and pulled silver grades down to 133 g/t from 185 g/t in the second quarter, although recoveries held steady at 88% for silver and 93% for gold.
Through nine months, First Majestic has produced roughly 10.8 million ounces of silver and 98,553 ounces of gold. Those totals equal 72% and 75% of the midpoints of 2026 guidance, which was raised in July to 14.6 million to 15.5 million ounces of silver and 128,000 to 135,000 ounces of gold. Gold is tracking on schedule, while silver sits slightly behind pace heading into the final quarter.
Exploration stayed busy throughout the quarter. Up to 33 rigs completed 78,475 metres of drilling in Q3, including 29,493 metres at San Dimas.
At Jerritt Canyon in Nevada, the company remains on track to restart production in the second half of 2027. A Metso Loesche vertical roller mill has been selected for the processing plant and will begin arriving on site in the first half of next year. Contractor Cementation has completed 5,965 metres of underground rehabilitation so far this year, and four rigs drilled roughly 16,284 metres at the site during the quarter.
“At Jerritt Canyon, the restart is progressing well and is ahead of plan in several key areas,” said CEO Keith Neumeyer. He added that the team is working to resolve the San Dimas situation and return to normal operations as quickly as possible.
The company also renewed its share buyback, which allows it to repurchase up to 10 million shares, or about 2% of its outstanding stock, over the next 12 months.
Third quarter financial results are set to be released November 5, with a conference call scheduled for 9:00 am PT / 11:00 am ET on the same day.
First Majestic Silver last traded at $23.75 on the TSX.
