Fresnillo's third-quarter silver production jumps 24.1 percent

(Reuters) - Fresnillo Plc (FRES.L) on Wednesday reported a 24.1 percent rise in third-quarter silver production, boosted by the start of operations at the miner's San Julian phase II facility.

Silver production for the quarter to Sept. 30 rose to 14.6 million ounces. Gold production rose 6.1 percent to 233,000 ounces.

Political tensions, including those between North Korea and the United States, have propped up demand for safe-haven assets such as gold and silver.

Gold and silver miners such as Fresnillo and peer Randgold (RRS.L) have reaped the benefits of the strong demand.

Fresnillo's stock has risen about 12.9 percent this year.

Randgold is up 15.9 percent, outpacing the STOXX Basic Resources Index (.SXPP) which is up 13.4 percent, Reuters data showed. (http://bit.ly/2i2p3S1)

Fresnillo, which mines gold and silver in Mexico, retained its full year production guidance of 58-61 million ounces of silver and 870,000-900,000 ounces of gold.

(Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by David Holmes)