(Reuters) - Hochschild Mining Plc (L:HOCM) reported on Wednesday a 90 percent jump in pre-tax profit for the first half, helped in part by higher grade ores from its Peruvian mines Inmaculada and Pallancata.
The century-old miner, which has been spending heavily on land around existing mines, or brownfield exploration, stuck to its 2018 output target of 514,000 gold equivalent ounces.
It also raised its interim dividend by 42 percent to 1.965 cents per share.
"Our brownfield programme has started to generate some exciting results with the key achievement of the addition of 800,000 gold equivalent ounces (59.2 million silver equivalent ounces) of resources at Inmaculada..." the company said.
Hochschild's profit before tax rose to $54.9 million, for the six months ended June 30, from $28.9 million a year earlier.
However, adjusted pre-tax profit fell marginally to $38.6 million from $38.9 million a year earlier.
The company, which operates three mines in Peru and one in Argentina, said revenue rose 9 percent to $372.9 million as its gold sales climbed 10 percent in the first six months.
Shares of the company were marginally higher on the London Stock Exchange in morning trade. The stock has lost about 36 percent of its value this year.