Financial Results of Operations
For the results of continuing operations discussed below, we compare the results from operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, to the results from operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021.
Three Months Ended September 30, 2022
Revenue from the sale of metals. We recorded $5.3 million in revenue from doré sales for the three months ended September 30, 2022, and $8.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. Lower revenue in 2022 resulted from 1,659 fewer gold equivalent ounces sold combined with a lower realized price of $1,703 per ounce for the three months ended September 30, 2022, compared to $1,783 per ounce for the three months ended September 30, 2021. Fewer gold ounces were sold in the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2021 due to the lower grade of material processed.
Cost of metals sold. For each of the three months ended September 30, 2022, and 2021, we recorded $4.4 million and $4.4 million of cost of metals sold, respectively.
Exploration expense. Our exploration expense, including property holding costs and allocated administrative expenses, totaled $2.4 million and $2.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, and September 30, 2021, respectively. The higher exploration expense for 2022 is primarily related to costs required to increase the capacity of the tailings facility at Velardeña.
Velardeña care and maintenance costs. We recorded $0.4 million for each of the three-month periods ended September 30, 2022, and September 30, 2021, for expenses related to care and maintenance at our Velardeña Properties as the result of the suspension of mining and processing activities in November 2015.
El Quevar project expense. We incurred $0.2 million and $0.1 million for the three-month periods ended September 30, 2022, and September 30, 2021, respectively, related to holding and evaluation costs for the Yaxtché deposit at our El Quevar project in Argentina. During each of the three months ended September 30, 2022, and September 30, 2021, approximately $0.2 million of costs actually incurred were offset by reimbursements from Barrick as discussed above.
Administrative expense. Administrative expenses totaled $0.9 million for each of the three months ended September 30, 2022, and September 30, 2021. Administrative expenses, including costs associated with being a public company, are incurred primarily by our corporate activities in support of the Rodeo Property, Velardeña Properties, El Quevar project and our exploration portfolio.
Stock-based compensation. During the three months ended September 30, 2022, we incurred approximately $0.2 million of expense related to stock-based compensation. Stock-based compensation varies from period to period depending on the number and timing of shares granted, the type of grant, the market value of the shares on the date of grant and other variables. During the three months ended September 30, 2021, we incurred approximately $0.1 million of expense related to stock-based compensation. Stock-based compensation was higher in the 2022 period primarily due to more awards granted to executives.
Reclamation and accretion expense. During each of the three months ended September 30, 2022, and September 30, 2021, we incurred approximately $0.1 million of reclamation expense related to the accretion of an asset retirement obligation at the Velardeña Properties and environmental liabilities associated with the Rodeo operation.
Other operating income (expense), net. We recorded $0.4 million of other operating income for the three months ended September 30, 2022, related to the amortization of deferred income related to the option agreement for the sale of the Santa Maria property, as discussed above. We recorded $0.1 million of other operating income for the three months ended September 30, 2021, primarily related to the amortization of deferred income related to the option agreement for the sale of the Santa Maria property.
Depreciation, depletion and amortization. During each of the three months ended September 30, 2022, and September 30, 2021, we incurred depreciation, depletion and amortization expense of approximately $0.1 million.