Tahoe Goes Into Damage Control After Guatemala Mine Suspension – by Danielle Bochove (July 13, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Tahoe Resources Inc., whose flagship Guatemalan mine has been suspended, is taking steps to cut costs, including possibly slowing an expansion of a project in Peru and trimming exploration.

The Reno, Nevada-based company may also discuss halting its dividend at an August board meeting and might slow down the payment of bills, Chief Executive Officer Ron Clayton said Thursday in a telephone interview.

“We certainly are already cutting back on things that are very discretionary,” Clayton said, adding the company will decide in the next two to three weeks what else it can save on. “Our gold mines, if we clip back a little bit on our exploration and capital spending, can generate cash.”

The precious-metals producer has lost about a third of its market value and has been hit by a wave of analyst rating cuts since July 5, when Tahoe said its 2017 production guidance was in jeopardy after the Guatemalan Supreme Court suspended the operating license of the Escobal silver mine.

The timing for the suspension was unfortunate with the company in the midst of a heavy capital spending year as the company looks to expand its Shahuindo mine in Peru and its Bell Creek Complex in Timmins, Ontario, Clayton noted, adding that the company may need to slow its work in Peru.

For the rest of this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-13/tahoe-to-weigh-spending-and-dividend-cut-as-guatemala-halt-bites