LIMA (REUTERS) - Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA, the Peruvian miner, (BUEv.LM) (BVN.N) reported on Thursday its third-quarter net profit rose nearly 1 percent, and said higher costs and lower metals prices offset production gains at some mines. Net profit increased to $100.6 million from $99.9 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Total revenue gained 6 percent to $207.6 million from $195.8 million. The average price it received for gold, including Yanacocha, one of Latin America's largest gold mines, was up 26 percent to $875 an ounce in the third quarter from a year ago, while silver climbed 17 percent to $14.73 an ounce in the same period. Prices the company got for lead and zinc tumbled. Gold output in the quarter, including Yanacocha, rose 14 percent to 302,028 ounces. Silver production fell 6 percent in the same period to 3,682,022 ounces. Besides the mines it operates directly, Buenaventura holds minority stakes in Yanacocha, and Cerro Verde (CVE.LM), a major copper pit. Peru is the world's fifth largest producer of gold and ranks second in copper production. It leads the world in silver output. (Reporting by Maria Luisa Palomino; Writing by Dana Ford; Editing by Marguerita Choy/Jeffrey Benkoe)

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