Coeur d'Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) Metals Production Soars

Coeur d'Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) announced last week that metal sales for the company has skyrocketed by 94 percent last quarter, generating an increase in operating cash flow of 308 percent as a result.

The Palmarejo mine in the Chihuahua State of Mexico led the company's increase in gold production for the quarter, gaining from 3,791 ounces in 2009 in the same quarter, to 25,792 ounces in the first quarter in 2010. Palmarejo generated 22,577 ounces of that.

In its first year full year of operation, Palmarejo is expected to produce about 109,000 ounces of gold.

Silver production was down slightly in the first quarter, dropping from 3,533,233 ounces in 2009 to 3,432,157 ounces this year.

Coeur d'Alene had a net loss of $8.02 million or a loss of ten cents a share. Last year in the same quarter the company had earnings of $6.06 million or 10 cents a share.

The losses included the retirement of $7.9 million in debt, and fair value adjustments of $4.3 million, among other things.

Coeur d'Alene CEO Dennis Wheeler said in a news release that the company is positioned to generate record metal sales and cash flows for its shareholders, based on production starting in July at Kensington, one of three "new, large long-life mines."