08:44 AM EST, 01/11/2018 (MT Newswires) -- GREAT PANTHER SILVER LIMITED (GPR.TO, NYSE American: GPL) may add to the near 2% gained yesterday after it detailed Thursday its fourth quarter and 2017 production results from its two wholly-owned Mexican silver mining operations -- the Topia Mine in Durango and the Guanajuato Mine Complex, which includes the San Ignacio Mine.

Fourth quarter 2017 production highlights (compared to Q4 2016) included: consolidated metal production increased 21% to 1,065,773 Ag eq oz; silver production increased 12% to 514,218 Ag oz; gold production increased 14% to 5,931 Au oz; and ore processed increased 6%, with 98,396 tonnes milled.

Meanwhile, 2017 production highlights (compared to full year 2016) included: consolidated metal production increased 2% to 3,978,731 silver equivalent ounces; silver production decreased 3% to 1,982,685 silver ounces; gold production increased 1% to 22,501 gold ounces, an annual record. Also, ore processed decreased 1% to 373,709 tonnes and Topia achieved a record 1,086,663 Ag eq oz in metal production, representing 21% growth

"Great Panther's 2017 production was consistent with the previous year, however, this was a considerable achievement given the work completed to accommodate the tailings expansion and plant improvements at the Topia Mine in the first quarter of the year," said James Bannantine, President and CEO. "We are also pleased with the recent completion of the permitting process for the Phase II tailings storage facility at Topia. While the regulatory process took longer than we expected, our team did an outstanding job of maintaining operations by extending capacity while improving the state of the existing facility."

For 2018, GPR said production is expected to be in the range of 4.0 to 4.1 million Ag eq oz (at a 70:1 silver to gold ratio). Cash cost per silver ounce and all-in sustaining cost per payable silver ounce guidance for 2018 is US$5.00 to 6.50 and US$12.50 to 14.50, respectively. GPR cautioned that cash cost and AISC are "very sensitive to the Mexican peso foreign exchange rate and metal prices through the computation of by-product credits."

GPR said the focus for 2018 will be to maintain steady and efficient operations in Mexico, while advancing the company's Coricancha Mine in Peru to set a platform for production growth in 2019 and 2020. While still in the early stage of evaluation, based upon historic production records, Coricancha has the potential to add 3 million Ag eq oz of annual production, it added.

Last month, the company announced an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate for Coricancha which was acquired in June of 2017, and is currently on care and maintenance. The company said it is completing optimization studies and evaluating alternative mining methods to reduce costs and project risk, and plans to release additional technical studies for the project in the second quarter of 2018. The company also expects to release an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate for the GMC later this month.

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