Fresnillo plc
Fresnillo plc is the world's largest primary silver producer and Mexico's second-largest gold miner, London-listed (LSE:FRES) with all 7 of its mines in Mexico: the flagship Fresnillo underground silver mine, Saucito (an adjacent underground silver mine), Ciénega, Herradura (open-pit gold), Noche Buena, Juanicipio (a high-grade silver-gold JV with MAG Silver/Pan American Silver) and San Julián. CEO is Octavio Alvídrez; CFO is Mario Arreguín. H1 2026 revenue rose 74.7% YoY to $3.4B on elevated silver and gold prices, with free cash flow of $1,257M against operating cash flow of $1,493M; silver sales volumes of 23.4 Moz exceeded H1 production of 22 Moz, while H1 gold production of 290.9 koz fell 7.3% YoY. AISC rose 48.3% YoY, driven by higher cash costs and increased sustaining and capitalized development capex.
Lifecycle Milestones
Construction Milestones
5 of 5 reached- Reached — date not disclosed · Source
- Reached — date not disclosed · Source
- Reached — date not disclosed · Source
- Reached — date not disclosed · Source
- Reached — date not disclosed · Source
Milestones are recorded only from a company's own dated disclosure. A milestone with no date shown is one we can confirm was reached but for which no date was disclosed — we don't estimate one. "Not yet reached" means exactly that, not that a date is missing. An "Expected" line likewise only ever reflects the company's own guidance (e.g. a study or permit decision targeted for a stated quarter) — most not-yet-reached milestones have none, and that absence means no such guidance has been disclosed, not that one is overdue.
Not yet determined: grid power.
Not in place: mill, tailings facility. Not yet determined: road access, grid power.
Combined view across 2 projects. Figures below are only combined where the underlying basis genuinely matches -- see the notes under each.
- 24.4%Novador Gold Project, Val-d'Or, Quebec
- 12.6 yrsNovador Gold Project, Val-d'Or, Quebec
Jurisdiction (40%)6/10
Fresnillo's entire operating portfolio (7 mines: Fresnillo, Ciénega, Herradura, Saucito, Noche Buena, Juanicipio, San Julián) is in Mexico. Score reflects Mexico's established but periodically-shifting mining/fiscal policy environment.
Infrastructure (40%)8.6/10
A confirmed mill, confirmed road access, and a confirmed tailings facility at Fresnillo Mine; grid power not yet researched, counted at a neutral 5/10 until established.
Nearby producing mine (20%)8/10
Cozamin (Capstone Copper Corp) is 50 km away -- within regional-platform range.
Acquisition Susceptibility
A relative ranking of how closely this company matches the profile of juniors that have actually been acquired — not a probability, and not a reason to buy. Acquisitions are rare: only a few dozen significant deals happen a year across a universe of thousands of juniors, so even a high score here describes a long shot. The strongest signal in the research, a producer that already owns part of the company, is scored from its disclosed strategic shareholders. A producer that is a joint-venture or earn-in partner on the project, rather than a shareholder, isn't captured yet.
How this score is built
- Disclosed pending dealSub-score: Not scored
No pending acquisition or merger disclosed (checked)
Not scored: having no deal in flight isn't held against a company.
Weight 26.25% - Producer's strategic stakeSub-score: Not yet researched
Holder register not researched yet
Not scored: most juniors that do get bought had no prior toehold, so a missing stake says little either way.
Weight 25% - Distance to a producing mineSub-score:5/10
Nearest producing mine: Cozamin (Capstone Copper Corp), 50 km
10 next to a producing mine, 8 at 20 km, 5 at 50 km, 0 beyond 200 km.
Weight 22.5% · 46% here - Lifecycle stageSub-score:5.5/10
Stage: Production
Feasibility and permitting score 10, where deals cluster, and production 5.5; earlier stages score less, down to 1 at grassroots.
Weight 15% · 31% here - JurisdictionSub-score:6/10
Mexico: jurisdiction score 6/10
Our jurisdiction score, used as is: higher means lower political and permitting risk.
Weight 6.75% · 14% here - CommoditySub-score:5/10
Primary commodity: Silver
Gold 10, copper 8, silver 5, nickel and uranium 4, others 2: most majors' deals are for gold.
Weight 4.5% · 9% here
Weight is each input's share of the full score. “Here” is its share of this company's score: inputs that aren't scored are left out and the rest re-weighted, never counted as zero.
Your Rankings
Management Team
Chief Executive Officer of Fresnillo plc since 15 Aug 2012. Joined the Peñoles Group (Fresnillo's majority parent) in Aug 1988, holding a series of senior operational and financial roles -- Treasurer, Head of Investor Relations (London), Head of Procurement of Concentrates, General Manager of the Madero mine, and EVP Exploration, Engineering and Construction -- before becoming Fresnillo's CEO.
Chief Financial Officer of Fresnillo plc since its 2008 IPO/demerger from Industrias Peñoles. Before that, Group Treasurer (~6 years) then Chief Financial Officer (~11 years) of Industrias Peñoles (Fresnillo's majority parent); earlier still, investment banking at Valores Finamex and project management at Dupont México.
Chairman of Fresnillo plc since April 2021. Member of the Bailleres family, which controls Fresnillo's majority parent Industrias Penoles.
Senior Independent Director of Fresnillo plc; independent non-executive director for approximately nine years as of the 2026 AGM. Member of the Health, Safety, Environment and Community Relations Committee.
Insiders, Investors & Smart Money
Notable shareholders and insiders whose involvement is worth knowing about, plus what we're seeing from institutional/large-investor activity.
Not scored. Smart-money tracking covers companies below about US$5B in market cap, where a single specialist fund or strategic investor taking a stake is a meaningful signal. This company was above that size when it was assessed.
No notable insiders tracked for this miner yet.
Reports, Presentations & Documents
Fresnillo operates seven Mexican mines: Fresnillo, Saucito, Cienega, San Julian and Juanicipio (56%, a joint venture with Pan American Silver), plus the Herradura and Noche Buena gold mines in Sonora. Its 2025 Annual Report gives audited measured and indicated silver resources, inclusive of reserves and on an attributable basis, of about 652.1 Moz, with a further 444.5 Moz inferred; proven and probable reserves are 362.6 Moz of silver and 7.8 Moz of gold. Fresnillo does not publish a company-wide or mine-level NPV or IRR.