Agnico Eagle says gold production up, profits down

Gold production was up, but profits were down for AgnicoEagle this summer, according to thirdquarter results released Wednesday.

The company's net income from July to September was $47million, less than half of what it was last yearover the same period.

The company blames lower metal prices.

At the same time,AgnicoEagle says gold production was at a recordhigh this last quarterand theMeadowbankmine near Baker Lake,Nunavut, has been a big part of that.

CEO Sean Boyd heaped praise on Meadowbank in a conference call with investors Thursday morning.

He saidthe mine's "outstanding performance" has boosted the company's overall production.

"So that team has done an extremely good job of managing that deposit," he said. "They've actually put themselves in a position because of some good thinking, changing the mining plan to basically take advantage of some good grade."

The company says it has increased its overall production forecast for the year.