Aya Gold & Silver Inc. raised the lower end of its 2026 production guidance for Morocco’s Zgounder mine by 400,000 ounces after quarterly output reached a record, while keeping its companywide target unchanged.
Aya issued the revised guidance Thursday, Nov. 12. Zgounder’s 2026 range now stands at 5.6 million to 5.8 million ounces, with its lower end increased from 5.2 million. The company’s consolidated target remains 6.6 million to 6.8 million silver-equivalent ounces, including about 1 million from Boumadine’s pyrite stockpile reclaim operation. The revision changes expected output from a Moroccan mine without lifting Aya’s overall target, a distinction relevant to the global silver supply outlook.
Zgounder produced 1.5 million ounces in the third quarter, an 11% increase from a year earlier. Aya said operating changes and added crushing equipment helped the mill process more ore. Boumadine’s reclaim operation produced 536,879 silver-equivalent ounces, bringing consolidated quarterly output to 2.03 million silver-equivalent ounces, up 51% year over year.
At the end of September, Zgounder’s ore stockpile stood at 434,538 metric tonnes, 16% above the previous quarter’s end. Aya plans two open-pit pushbacks beginning toward the end of 2026 and continuing into 2027. As work moves to lower underground levels, Aya expects underground mining to slow; activity in the open pits is also projected to constrain ore output temporarily. Aya expects the stockpile to level off before shrinking during 2027, while a permanent tertiary crusher is expected to begin operating in early 2027.
Aya’s updated preliminary economic assessment for the broader Boumadine project put its estimated after-tax net present value at $3.5 billion, double its previous estimate, using a 5% discount rate. Aya cautioned that the assessment is preliminary, includes inferred resources and may not be realized. The project has not entered commercial production and remains under evaluation, Aya said. The company is targeting completion of a feasibility study in the second half of 2027.
