First quarter production of 18.6 million pounds of copper in
concentrates
VANCOUVER, April 11, 2013 /CNW/ - Capstone Mining Corp.
("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced its operating results for
the three months ended March 31, 2013
of its two operating mines, Cozamin and Minto. Combined production totalled 18.6
million pounds of copper in concentrates, with additional
by-products of zinc, silver, gold and lead.
Q1 2013
Production |
|
Copper in concentrates
(thousands of pounds) |
Cash cost(1)
(US$/pound) |
Cozamin |
10,142 |
$1.06 |
Minto |
8,444 |
$2.50 |
Total |
18,586 |
$1.72 |
"Both operations ran well during the first quarter," said
Darren Pylot, President and CEO of
Capstone. "At Minto, our first
quarter production and costs were better than planned as we
successfully accommodated the pit wall failure that affected the
fourth quarter of 2012. At Cozamin, we were impacted in February by
water shortages; however we quickly secured additional water
supplies and expect to make up any production shortfall in the
second quarter."
Operational Highlights
- Production of 18.6 million pounds of copper contained in
concentrates.
- By-product production of 4.9 million pounds of zinc, 402,272
ounces of silver and 937,000 pounds of lead in concentrates. Final
gold production is not available since assaying is conducted
off-site, but is estimated at approximately 3,500 ounces for the
quarter.
- At Cozamin, production was negatively impacted by the ongoing
drought conditions in Central
Mexico that affected water supplies in February.
Additional short and long term sources of water were secured, and
during March the mill operated at throughput rates which are
expected to have production back on plan by the end of the second
quarter. The copper grade was lower than expected because of
a delay in mining the high grade 11C block. The area required more
ground support, but mining has resumed in this block. The
zinc and lead grades were higher than planned, primarily as a
result of mining in alternate zones while ground support work was
taking place.
Despite the lower production at Cozamin, costs on a per pound basis
were in line with full year guidance, primarily because of higher
by-product credits resulting from higher zinc and lead grades.
- Operations at Minto ran better
than planned in the first quarter. Ore that was deferred from
the fourth quarter of 2012, due to the stability issues in the west
pit highwall, was accessed in the first quarter and mining is now
fully operational along the west wall. With mining activities
advancing in the Area 2 pit and the west wall once again
accessible, additional dig faces have been accessed, providing
greater operating flexibility and productivity.
Costs per pound for the quarter at Minto were lower than anticipated, primarily
due to higher production and the deferral of some site
administrative costs for the quarter.
(1) The item marked with a "1" is an alternative performance
measure; please see "Alternative Performance Measure" at the end of
this release.
Q1 2013 Operating Details
|
Cozamin |
|
Minto |
Q1 Total |
Production (2)
(contained in concentrates) |
|
|
|
|
|
-Copper (000s pounds) |
10,142 |
|
8,444 |
18,586 |
|
-Zinc (000s pounds) |
4,949 |
|
- |
4,949 |
|
-Lead (000s pounds) |
937 |
|
- |
937 |
|
-Silver (ounces) |
366,523 |
|
35,749 |
402,272 |
|
-Gold (ounces) |
- |
|
3,502 |
3,502 |
Mine |
|
|
|
|
|
-Tonnes of ore mined |
296,849 |
|
416,502 |
713,351 |
Mill |
|
|
|
|
|
-Tonnes processed |
275,900 |
|
333,346 |
609,246 |
|
-Tonnes processed per day |
3,066 |
|
3,704 |
6,770 |
|
-Copper grade (%) |
1.80 |
|
1.26 |
1.50 |
|
-Zinc grade (%) |
1.24 |
|
- |
1.24 |
|
-Lead grade (%) |
0.25 |
|
- |
0.25 |
|
-Silver grade (g/t) |
58.0 |
|
4.3 |
28.6 |
|
-Gold grade (g/t) |
- |
|
0.42 |
0.42 |
Recoveries |
|
|
|
|
|
-Copper (%) |
92.7 |
|
91.1 |
91.8 |
|
-Zinc (%) |
65.6 |
|
- |
65.6 |
|
-Lead (%) |
62.6 |
|
- |
62.6 |
|
-Silver (%) |
71.3 |
|
78.3 |
71.9 |
|
-Gold (%) |
- |
|
78.6 |
78.6 |
Concentrates
(2) |
|
|
|
|
|
-Copper concentrates (dmt) |
17,328 |
|
10,675 |
28,003 |
|
|
Copper (%) |
26.5 |
|
35.9 |
30.1 |
|
|
Silver (g/t) |
548 |
|
104 |
379 |
|
|
Gold (g/t) |
- |
|
10.2 |
10.2 |
|
-Zinc concentrates (dmt) |
4,681 |
|
- |
4,681 |
|
|
Zinc (%) |
48.0 |
|
- |
48.0 |
|
-Lead concentrates (dmt) |
715 |
|
- |
715 |
|
|
Lead (%) |
59.5 |
|
- |
59.5 |
|
|
Silver (g/t) |
2,672 |
|
- |
2,672 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Payable copper produced (000s
lbs) |
9,711 |
|
8,170 |
17,811 |
Cash cost per pound of
payable copper1 |
$1.06 |
|
$2.50 |
$1.72 |
(2) Adjustments based on final settlements will be made in
future periods.
Outlook
Capstone's 2013 guidance for 85 million pounds ± 5% of copper in
concentrates, at a total cash cost(1) of $1.65 to $1.75 per pound of payable copper, net
of by-product credits and selling costs, remains unchanged.
(1) The item marked with a "1" is an alternative performance
measure; please see "Alternative Performance Measure" at the end of
this release.
Q1 Financial Results Timing
Capstone will report 2013 first quarter financial results on
Wednesday, May 8, 2013 after market
close, followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and
analysts on Thursday, May 9, 2013 at
11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time).
Conference Call and Webcast Details
|
|
Date: |
Thursday, May 9, 2013 |
Time: |
11:30 am Eastern Time -- 8:30 am Pacific Time |
Dial in: |
North America: 1-888-390-0605, International:
+416-764-8609 |
Webcast: |
http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/detail/1134543/1237395 |
Replay: |
North America: 1-888-390-0541, International:
+416-764-8677 |
Replay Passcode: |
378784 |
|
|
The conference call replay will be available until May 23, 2013. The conference call audio and
transcript will be available on Capstone's website within
approximately 24 hours of the call at
http://capstonemining.com/s/Conference_Calls.asp
About Capstone Mining Corp.
Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company,
committed to the responsible development of our assets and the
environments in which we operate. We are preferentially focused on
copper, with two producing copper mines, the Cozamin
copper-silver-zinc-lead mine located in Zacatecas State,
Mexico and the Minto copper-gold-silver mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two
development projects, the large scale 70% owned Santo Domingo copper-iron-gold project in
Chile in partnership with Korea
Resources Corporation and the 100% owned Kutcho
copper-zinc-gold-silver project in British Columbia, as well as exploration at
properties in Canada, Chile, Mexico
and Australia. Using our cash flow
and strong balance sheet as a springboard, Capstone aims to grow
with continued mineral resource and reserve expansions,
exploration, and through acquisitions in politically stable,
mining-friendly regions. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the
TSX. Further information is available at
www.capstonemining.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This document may contain "forward-looking information" within
the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively,
"forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are
made as of the date of this document and Capstone Mining Corp. (the
"Company") does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to
update these forward-looking statements, except as required under
applicable securities legislation.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future
performance and reflect Company management's expectations or
beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited
to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral reserves
and mineral resources, the realization of mineral reserve
estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production,
costs of production, capital expenditures, success of mining
operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation
expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance
coverage. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does
not expect", "is expected", "outlook", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not
anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases
or statements that certain actions, events or results "may",
"could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be
achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology.
In this document certain forward-looking statements are identified
by words including "scheduled", "guidance", "plan", "planned",
"estimated", "projections", "projected" and "expected". By their
very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements of the Company to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Such factors include, among others, risks related to
actual results of current exploration activities; changes in
project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices
of mineral resources; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or
recovery rates; accidents; dependence on key personnel; labour pool
constraints; labour disputes; availability of infrastructure
required for the development of mining projects; delays in
obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion
of development or construction activities; and other risks of the
mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time
in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and
management's discussion and analysis of those statements, all of
which are filed and available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ
materially from those described in forward-looking statements,
there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results
not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no
assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be
accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward
looking statements.
National Instrument 43-101 Compliance
Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical
information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on
information contained in the technical reports, news releases and
MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available
under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was reviewed and approved
by a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National
Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI
43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of
the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical
Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that
are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic
viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as
a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of
context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions
and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents.
The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in this
news release has been reviewed and approved by John Wright, P. Eng., Business Development
Manager, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. In addition,
Gregg Bush, Senior Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer reviewed all Technical Information in
this news release.
Alternative Performance Measure
The item marked with a (1) "Cash Cost per Pound of
Payable Copper" is an Alternative Performance Measure. This
performance measure is included because this statistic is a key
performance measure that management uses to monitor performance.
Management uses this statistic to assess how the Company is
performing to plan and to assess the overall effectiveness and
efficiency of mining operations. This performance measure does not
have a meaning within IFRS and, therefore, amounts presented may
not be comparable to similar data presented by other mining
companies. This performance measure should not be considered in
isolation as a substitute for measures of performance in accordance
with IFRS.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors
This news release contains disclosure that has been prepared in
accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which
differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Without
limiting the foregoing, this news release uses the terms
"indicated" and "inferred" resources. U.S. investors are cautioned
that, while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian
securities laws, the SEC does not recognize them. Under U.S.
standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve"
unless the determination has been made that the mineralization
could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time
the reserve determination is made. U.S. investors are cautioned not
to assume that all or any part of indicated resources will ever be
converted into reserves. U.S. investors should also understand that
"inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their
existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or
economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of
"inferred resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category.
Therefore, U.S. investors are also cautioned not to assume that all
or any part of inferred resources exist, or that they can be mined
legally or economically. Accordingly, information concerning
descriptions of mineralization and resources contained in this news
release may not be comparable to information made public by U.S.
companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of
the SEC.
SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.