04:27 PM EDT, 04/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Atico Mining ( ATCMF ) after trade Monday released its operating results for the first quarter from its El Roble mine in Colombia.

The company said production for the quarter totaled 3.34 million pounds of copper and 2,156 ounces of gold in concentrates, an increase of 44% for copper and a decrease of 16% for gold, respectively, over the same period in 2023.

"The El Roble mine operated in line with set expectations for this quarter as we improved on almost all metrics over the same period last year," chief executive Fernando Ganoza said in a statement. "For the remainder of the year, the team will be focused on optimizing production to take advantage of the higher metal price environment and to deliver on this year's set guidance. In parallel, we continue to drill new high-grade resources in the mine vicinity target areas. These new areas will be incorporated into our mine plan as well as the new resource update which is planned to be published imminently."

Among other first quarter operational highlights, Atico cited production of 2,156 ounces of gold contained in concentrates, a decrease of 16% over Q1 2023; and average processed tonnes per day of 811, an increase of 9% over Q1 2023.

It also cited copper head grade of 2.51%, an increase of 34% over Q1 2023; and gold head grade of 1.64 grams per tonne, a decrease of 25% over Q1 2023; and copper and gold recovery of 91.8% and 62.1%; an increase of 3% for copper and 7% for gold, respectively, over Q1 2023.

Atico shares closed unchanged at C$0.20 on the TSX Venture Exchange.