• Preliminary silver production was 102,922 ounces, up 7.4 per cent on the June quarter and 148 per cent on a year earlier.
  • The Rasp plant processed 129,084 tonnes of ore, the highest throughput since June 2020, while zinc production fell 9.2 per cent to 3,024 tonnes.
  • Full quarterly production and financial data is due in late October 2026; the update includes no revenue, cost or guidance figures.

Broken Hill Mines Limited (ASX:BHM) has released preliminary production figures for the September 2026 quarter, reporting 102,922 ounces of silver from its Rasp plant at Broken Hill, New South Wales. The company describes this as a milestone above 100,000 ounces of silver and the highest silver output since June 2022. The figures are preliminary and subject to customary reconciliation.

Quarterly production

The Rasp plant processed 129,084 tonnes of ore, up 8.2 per cent on the June 2026 quarter and 10.1 per cent higher than the September 2025 quarter. BHM says that equates to an annualised rate of 516,000 tonnes a year, about 69 per cent of the plant's 750,000 tonne-a-year capacity, and the highest throughput since June 2020.

Silver output rose 7.4 per cent on the previous quarter from 95,787 ounces, and is 148 per cent higher than the 41,479 ounces reported a year earlier. Lead production was broadly flat at 2,381 tonnes against 2,376 tonnes in the June quarter, while zinc fell 9.2 per cent to 3,024 tonnes from 3,330 tonnes. Compared with the September 2025 quarter, lead is up 67.7 per cent and zinc up 4.9 per cent.

Ore sources and plant upgrades

Rasp is currently being fed from the Western Min, Main Lode and Pinnacles areas. At Pinnacles, which is operated by BHM under a joint venture in which profits are shared roughly 70 per cent to BHM and 30 per cent to Pinnacles on an agreed net smelter return basis with deductions, the open pit is ramping up. Initial lower-grade remnant material is being mined, and the first full bench of clean high-grade ore has been exposed, with Mining and trucking to Rasp under way. BHM says up to 50,000 tonnes of mineralised ore remains in the pit floor and that newly identified high-grade lodes have been noted.

The company expects silver, lead and zinc grades to rise as more Pinnacles and Main Lode ore is processed, and notes possible gold and copper credits. It says it maintains a "clear pathway" to full utilisation of the 750,000 tonne-a-year plant. A tailings dewatering plant is described as on budget and on schedule, with availability expected in the first half of calendar 2027.

Funding and market conditions

BHM states that a completed $85 million Capital raising has strengthened its Balance Sheet and provides funding for exploration, development and the ramp-up. It also says zinc and silver prices are well above long-term averages and that zinc and lead concentrate treatment charges are negative, meaning BHM receives a Credit or payment for the smelting component, separate from payment for the payable metal in concentrate. These are company statements about market conditions rather than figures drawn from the quarter's accounts.

The release does not include sales revenue, operating costs, cash position or production guidance. The company says full September quarter production and financial data is due in late October 2026.

Exploration and resource milestones

Centenary is described as a potential fourth ore feed and a confirmed major bulk-tonnage discovery. BHM expects further drilling results and an Exploration Target for Centenary in the near term, and assays from open pit and underground drilling at Pinnacles are also due in the near term. A Mineral Resource Estimate update for Rasp and Pinnacles is scheduled for late 2026 and is to incorporate more than 85,000 metres of additional drilling.

What to watch

The confirmed upcoming items are the full Quarterly Report in late October 2026, the Centenary Exploration Target and drilling results, the Pinnacles assays, the late-2026 resource update and the tailings dewatering plant in the first half of 2027. The quarter's zinc decline and the flat lead result show that production growth was concentrated in silver and tonnes processed. Because the numbers are preliminary and cost and Revenue data are not yet available, the announcement does not show how the higher output translates into earnings.