Peru · Business
Key Facts
—Yumpag output. The Yumpag mine produced 2.32 million ounces of silver in Q2 2026, dominating Buenaventura’s quarterly silver result.
—Consolidated silver. Total silver production including associates reached between 3.52 and 3.62 million ounces for the quarter.
—San Gabriel ramp-up. The San Gabriel gold project began recording sales volumes in Q2 2026, though full commercial production remains pending.
—Guidance revision. Buenaventura raised Yumpag’s 2026 silver guidance to 8.5–9.0 million ounces while San Gabriel is guided to produce 70,000 to 80,000 ounces of gold in 2026.
—Permit expansion. After the quarter ended, Yumpag received approval to increase its mining rate from 1,000 to 1,200 tonnes per day.
Buenaventura’s Yumpag silver mine cemented its status as the company’s most important precious-metals asset in the second quarter of 2026, producing 2.32 million ounces and driving a guidance upgrade, while the long-awaited San Gabriel gold project moved from commissioning into revenue-generating ramp-up under tighter-than-expected constraints.
Yumpag dominates Buenaventura’s silver platform
Compañía de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A., Peru’s largest publicly traded precious-metals producer, reported that its Yumpag underground mine delivered 2.32 million ounces of silver during the second quarter of 2026, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the company’s consolidated silver output. Total silver production including associates landed between 3.52 million and 3.62 million ounces, depending on the reporting basis, marking one of the strongest quarterly silver performances in the Lima-based miner’s recent history.
The result builds on a pattern of outperformance at Yumpag, which had already produced 2.28 million ounces in the first quarter of 2025 and 2.9 million ounces during its first full quarter of operations alongside the neighbouring Uchucchacua unit in mid-2024. Located in the Yanahuanca district of Pasco region, the high-grade underground project has consistently exceeded the expectations set when Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines granted its final operating permit in March 2024, authorising mining at a rate of 1,000 tonnes per day.
A high-grade asset becomes the crown jewel
Yumpag was conceived as a replacement for depleting reserves at the legacy Uchucchacua mine, with a first-phase investment of approximately US$84 million and a planned second phase exceeding US$30 million, bringing total projected spending to between US$114 million and US$144 million. That capital is now delivering returns well ahead of schedule, with recent analytical coverage describing Yumpag as “the crown jewel” of Buenaventura’s silver strategy and a key driver of margin expansion across the portfolio.
In response to the sustained outperformance, Buenaventura raised Yumpag’s full-year 2026 silver production guidance to between 8.5 million and 9.0 million ounces, a significant increase from the original 2024 guidance band of 6.5 million to 7.2 million ounces. Shortly after the quarter closed, the company also secured regulatory approval to lift the mining rate to 1,200 tonnes per day, suggesting further upside is possible if high-grade stopes continue to deliver.
San Gabriel begins recording sales volumes
While Yumpag powered the silver story, the San Gabriel gold project in Moquegua region reached an important milestone by recording its first sales volumes during the second quarter. The company confirmed that San Gabriel entered the ramp-up phase in the first quarter of 2026, producing 1,700 ounces of gold, and began commercialising output in the following three-month period.
However, Buenaventura also confirmed San Gabriel’s 2026 gold production guidance at between 70,000 and 80,000 ounces, citing tailings-management constraints and current metallurgical recovery rates that are below design expectations. Our reporting has shown that the mine poured its first gold bar earlier in July 2026 and holds more than 1.8 million ounces of gold reserves, with the company weighing a mine life stretched by up to sixteen years. This figure sits well below earlier external estimates that had projected steady-state annual output of 100,000 to 120,000 ounces once the mine reaches full commercial production, a milestone that now appears further off than originally anticipated.
What the Buenaventura Yumpag silver surge means for investors
For investors tracking Latin American mining equities, the divergence between Yumpag’s silver outperformance and San Gabriel’s cautious gold ramp-up presents a mixed but broadly constructive picture. Silver revenues are clearly benefiting from both higher volumes and what are likely to be favourable realised prices, given the precious metal’s strong run through mid-2026, though mine-level cost data and exact sales figures for Yumpag have not yet been disclosed in public filings.
The San Gabriel constraints warrant attention because the project has absorbed significant capital — total investment is estimated at around US$430 million, with construction reaching 71 percent completion by end-2024 — and was originally expected to begin commercial production in the second half of 2025. Delays linked to tailings and recoveries are not unusual for a complex underground gold development, but they mean the asset will contribute modestly to group earnings in 2026, tempering the near-term gold narrative even as silver provides a strong counterbalance.
The Latin America read-through: silver strength, gold patience
Buenaventura’s results reflect broader trends in Peru’s mining sector, where high-grade silver projects in the central Andes are attracting renewed interest from international investors seeking exposure to the energy-transition and precious-metals themes. The company’s ability to secure a permit expansion at Yumpag — from 1,000 to 1,200 tonnes per day — also signals a constructive relationship with Peruvian regulatory authorities, an important consideration for expatriate professionals and foreign capital evaluating jurisdictional risk.
For expats and frontier-market observers, the operational momentum at Yumpag reinforces Peru’s position as the world’s third-largest silver producer and a jurisdiction where well-capitalised operators can still expand output. The San Gabriel story, meanwhile, serves as a reminder that even fully permitted, well-engineered projects in Peru face technical hurdles during the commissioning phase, and that patience is often required before design-level production is achieved.
What to watch in the second half of 2026
The key variable for the remainder of the year is whether Yumpag can sustain its elevated run-rate now that the mining permit has been expanded to 1,200 tonnes per day. If grades hold and throughput rises, the mine could push beyond the upper end of its revised 8.5 million to 9.0 million ounce guidance range, further strengthening Buenaventura’s consolidated silver output.
On the gold side, investors will be watching for any improvement in San Gabriel’s metallurgical recovery rates and tailings management, which would allow the company to revisit its conservative 70,000 to 80,000 ounce guidance. The next formal quarterly report should also provide the first detailed look at San Gabriel’s unit costs and realised gold prices, offering a clearer picture of the project’s path toward commercial production and its eventual contribution to group profitability.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much silver did Buenaventura’s Yumpag mine produce in Q2 2026?
Yumpag produced 2.32 million ounces of silver in the second quarter of 2026, according to Buenaventura’s production update and guidance revision. This accounted for roughly two-thirds of the company’s total consolidated silver output for the period, which ranged between 3.52 million and 3.62 million ounces depending on whether production from associates was included.
Is the San Gabriel gold mine now in full commercial production?
No, San Gabriel is not yet in full commercial production. The project entered the ramp-up phase in the first quarter of 2026 and began recording sales volumes in the second quarter, but Buenaventura has revised its 2026 gold production guidance for the asset down to between 25,000 and 30,000 ounces due to tailings-management constraints and lower-than-expected metallurgical recovery rates.
What is the updated production guidance for Yumpag in 2026?
Buenaventura has raised Yumpag’s full-year 2026 silver production guidance to between 8.5 million and 9.0 million ounces, a significant increase from earlier targets. The upgrade reflects higher-than-expected grades, and the company has also received approval to expand the mining rate from 1,000 to 1,200 tonnes per day, which could support further output growth.
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