Aya Gold & Silver says it had its strongest quarter yet in Morocco, helped by higher production at its Zgounder silver mine and pyrite reprocessing at the Boumadine project. The Canadian mining company produced a record 1.68 million silver equivalent ounces (AgEq) in the second quarter. That was 61% higher than the same period last year and 12% more than the previous quarter.
Most of the output came from the Zgounder mine, which produced 1.49 million ounces of silver. That was up 43% from a year ago and 18% from the first quarter. Pyrite reprocessing at Boumadine added another 187,784 silver equivalent ounces.
Zgounder mined 444,106 tonnes of ore during the quarter, up from 411,766 tonnes in the first quarter and 241,288 tonnes a year earlier.
The average silver grade was 137 grams per tonne, compared with 135 grams per tonne in the previous quarter and 138 grams per tonne a year ago.
The processing plant treated 353,888 tonnes of ore, or 3,889 tonnes a day. That was up from 326,949 tonnes, or 3,633 tonnes a day, in the first quarter.
Silver recovery also improved to 91.2%, compared with 89.4% in the previous quarter and 86.5% a year earlier.
Aya said its team delivered “record production and mining levels through disciplined execution” and added that “processing throughput continues to perform in line with expectations.”
In the first six months of the year, Zgounder mined 855,872 tonnes of ore, processed 680,837 tonnes and produced 2.75 million ounces of silver. That compares with 2.11 million ounces during the same period last year.
The mine averaged 4,880 tonnes a day, including 3,437 tonnes from the open pit and 1,444 tonnes from underground operations. The company said its stripping ratio was 10 and is expected to reach its annual target of 16 once the second phase of its tailings storage facility is completed early in the third quarter.
At Boumadine, Aya processed 17,153 tonnes of historic pyrite during the quarter. The material contained an average of 179 grams of silver and 2.43 grams of gold per tonne.
The operation produced 100,721 ounces of silver, 1,414 ounces of gold and 187,784 silver equivalent ounces, using a gold-to-silver ratio of 64 to one.
In the first half of the year, Boumadine processed 38,967 tonnes of pyrite and produced 228,127 ounces of silver, 3,171 ounces of gold and 415,585 silver equivalent ounces.
Aya said the pyrite reprocessing programme, announced in November 2025, is expected to continue for 20 to 24 months until the stockpile is exhausted. The Boumadine polymetallic project remains in the exploration and evaluation stage.
