VANCOUVER, British Columbia,
October 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Third quarter production of 18.9 million pounds of copper in
concentrates
Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced
operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 of its two operating mines,
Cozamin and Minto. Combined
production totalled 18.9 and 56.9 million pounds of copper in
concentrates in the third quarter and year-to-date period,
respectively, with additional by-products of zinc, lead, silver and
gold.
Q3 2013 Production
YTD
Q1 Q2 Q3 2013
Cozamin
Copper in concentrates
(thousands of pounds) 10,142 12,123 11,623 33,888
C1 cash cost per pound(1) US$1.06 US$1.22 US$1.20 US$1.17
Minto
Copper in concentrates
(thousands of pounds) 8,444 7,201 7,326 22,970
C1 cash cost per pound(1) US$2.50 US$2.49 US$2.14 US$2.38
Total
Copper in concentrates
(thousands of pounds) 18,586 19,324 18,949 56,859
C1 cash cost per pound(1) US$1.72 US$1.70 US$1.57 US$1.66
(1) This is an alternative performance
measure];[ please see
"Alternative Performance Measure" at the end of this
release].[ C1 cash cost
per pound is per pound of payable copper
produced].[ All amounts
in US$ unless otherwise specified.
"Both operations produced another steady quarter and are
operating according to plan," said Darren
Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "At Minto we have
accessed the open pit and underground high grade ore which will
increase production levels for the remainder of this year."
Operational Highlights for the Three
and Nine Months Ended September 30,
2013
- Production of 18.9 and 56.9 million pounds of copper contained
in concentrates, respectively.
- By-product production of 4.5 and 13.7 million pounds of zinc,
0.4 and 2.5 million pounds of lead and 465,161 and 1,346,008 ounces
of silver in concentrates. Final gold production is not available
since assaying is conducted off-site, but is estimated at 2,894 and
9,235 ounces for the respective periods.
- At Cozamin, operations are tracking well against plan.
Throughput, grade and recoveries are all at, or very close to
expectations for the quarter and year-to-date. Costs on a per pound
basis remain somewhat elevated due to the continuing strength of
the Mexican Peso and higher haulage costs. Despite the slight
decrease in costs from the second quarter, they remain above
guidance but are expected to decrease over the remainder of the
year.
- At Minto, operations ran well
in the third quarter, with the mining rate increasing in order to
access high grade ore from the open pit. We have reached both the
high grade material from the pit as well as the ore lens
underground. Ore development commenced from underground in early
September, to confirm ore zone grades and geometry while the
permanent ventilation raise is constructed. Expenditures for the
quarter continued in line with expectations, but cash cost remained
lower than expected given the deferral of stripping costs in the
third quarter. No additional deferral of stripping costs is
expected over the remainder of the year given the significant
volume of higher grade ore to be released in the fourth
quarter.
Q3 2013 Operating Details
Cozamin Minto
Q3 2013 YTD 2013 Q3 2013 YTD 2013
Production(2) (contained in concentrates)
- Copper (000s pounds) 11,623 33,888 7,326 22,970
- Zinc (000s pounds) 4,477 13,664 - -
- Lead (000s pounds) 402 2,451 - -
- Silver (ounces) 431,160 1,250,157 34,001 95,851
- Gold (ounces) - - 2,894 9,235
Mine (tonnes)
- Ore 296,316 892,842 303,973 826,621
- Waste - - 2,941,316 8,244,230
Mill
- Tonnes processed 292,908 891,637 360,286 1,043,241
- Tonnes processed per day 3,184 3,266 3,916 3,821
- Copper grade (%) 1.96 1.86 1.00 1.09
- Zinc grade (%) 1.17 1.11 - -
- Lead grade (%) 0.15 0.22 - -
- Silver grade (g/t) 63.8 61.1 3.8 3.8
- Gold grade (g/t) - - 0.32 0.36
Recoveries
- Copper (%) 92.0 92.6 92.2 91.3
- Zinc (%) 59.3 62.5 - -
- Lead (%) 41.7 56.7 - -
- Silver (%) 71.8 71.4 76.6 75.5
- Gold (%) - - 77.0 76.3
Concentrates(2)
- Copper concentrates (dmt) 20,976 59,620 9,791 29,640
Copper (%) 25.1 25.8 33.9 35.2
Silver (g/t) 597.0 571.6 108.0 100.6
Gold (g/t) - - 9.2 9.7
- Zinc concentrates (dmt) 4,217 12,900 - -
Zinc (%) 48.2 48.0 - -
- Lead concentrates (dmt) 373 1,933 - -
Lead (%) 49.0 57.5 - -
Silver (g/t) 2,405 2,485 - -
Payable copper produced (000s lbs) 11,105 32,411 7,088 22,224
C1 cash cost(1)
(per pound of payable of copper produced) US$1.20 US$1.17 US$2.14 US$2.38
YTD totals may not add due to rounding. (2) Adjustments based on final settlements
will be made in future periods.
Production Outlook
Capstone's 2013 guidance of 85 million pounds (± 5%) of copper
contained in concentrates at a C1 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) These are alternative performance measures];[ please see "Alternative
Performance Measures" at the end of this release.
Q3 Financial Results Timing
Capstone will report 2013 third quarter financial results on
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 after
market close, followed by a conference call and webcast for
investors and analysts on Thursday, October
31, 2013 at 11:30 am Eastern
Time (8:30 am Pacific
Time).
Date: Thursday, October 31, 2013
Time: 11:30 am Eastern Time -- 8:30 am Pacific Time
Dial in: North America: 1-888-390-0546, International: +416-764-8688
Webcast: http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/detail/1209423/1327063
Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677
Replay Passcode: 438476
The conference call replay will be available until November 14, 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
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
http://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 conversion of mineral resources to
mineral reserves, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the
anticipated date of closing of the acquisition of Pinto Valley and
the associated financing, 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
http://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
http://www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or
under the supervision of, 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 Brad Skeeles, P. Eng., Vice President of North
American Operations, 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 Measures
The item marked with (1) "C1 Cash Cost per Pound of Payable
Copper Produced" 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.
For further information:
Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor
Relations and Communications
+1-604-637-8157
cburnett@capstonemining.com
SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.