Yamana Misses; Says New Mine on Target

TORONTO (TheStreet) -- Yamana Gold(AUY Quote) missed Wall Street's profit expectations by a penny for its third quarter, the first full period of commercial operation at its key Gualcamayo mine in Argentina.

The intermediate gold producer posted adjusted earnings, before items, of $88.3 million, or 12 cents a share. Revenue amounted to $332 million, a sum that also fell short of the consensus Wall Street target. Analysts were looking for a top line of $357.7 million.

The results compared favorably, however, with the year-ago quarter, when there was no producing Gualcamayo mine. Revenue rose 50% from the same period of 2008, while adjusted earnings increased by 180%.

Yamana produced 261,789 ounces of gold and 2.9 million ounces of silver in the just-ended quarter, with Gualcamayo contributing 39,523 ounces of the yellow metal. The company, as of July, had a 2009 production goal for the mine of between 195,000 ounces and 210,000 ounces, according to a report in the trade journal Mining Weekly.

In a written statement, Yamana's CEO, Pete Marrone, appeared confident that the company would, in the last quarter of the year, make up for that gap. "We focused on our newest mine, Gualcamayo, this quarter, as we continue to put steps in place to optimize the mine," he said, adding that it's "meeting our expectations and exceeding guidance."