UPDATE 1-Minera Andes posts higher Q3 silver, gold production

* Says silver production up 42 pct from yr ago

* Gold production up 82 pct from yr ago

Oct 8 (Reuters) - Canada's Minera Andes Inc MAI.TO posted a higher silver and gold production for the third quarter at its San Jose mine in Argentina, helped by an expansion program completed in the last quarter of 2008.

Silver production was up 42 percent to 1.4 million ounces, while gold production soared 82 percent to 22,470 ounces.

The San Jose project is operated by Minera Santa Cruz SA, which is 51 percent owned by Hochschild Mining plc HOC.L and 49 percent by Minera Andes.

Silver sales more than doubled, while gold sales were up 188 percent due to increased production and products' inventory reduction, the company said.

The company lost five days of its operations at San Jose in the quarter after a series of labor stoppages, it said.

Shares of Minera Andes were up 4 percent, or 3 Canadian cents, at 73 Canadian cents during mid-day trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Amit Kumar in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)