(All amounts in US$ unless otherwise
specified)
VANCOUVER, Jan. 16, 2015 /CNW/ - Capstone Mining Corp.
("Capstone") (TSX: CS) has entered into an amended Senior Secured
Corporate Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") for up to $500 million with Scotiabank (Co-Lead Arranger,
Joint Bookrunner and Administrative Agent) and Canadian Imperial
Bank of Commerce (Co-Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner and
Syndication Agent). Other syndicate lenders include Citibank, N.A.,
Canadian Branch; Wells Fargo Bank N.A., Canadian Branch; Export
Development Canada; Bank of Montreal; Mizuho
Bank, Ltd.; and ING Capital LLC. This facility amends
Capstone's existing senior secured corporate revolving term
facility and allows for the repayment and cancellation of the
existing senior secured reducing revolving credit facility.,
The RCF comprises a committed $440
million plus a $60 million
accordion. It has a four year term maturing in January 2019 (with extension rights on mutual
consent), an interest rate of US LIBOR plus 3.0% (adjustable in
certain circumstances) and a standby fee of 0.675%, payable on the
undrawn balance of the facility. The $60 million accordion may be exercised by
Capstone once additional credit is committed from existing and/or
new lenders.
"This low-cost credit facility, combined with our existing cash
balance and cash flow from operations, offers Capstone significant
financial flexibility to meet our operating requirements and to
address potential market or operational disruptions, including
periods of low copper prices," said Darren
Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "We expect to draw
approximately $265 million once the
standard conditions precedents are met. This will replace our
current borrowings and will eliminate our requirement for
amortization, leaving us with approximately $235 million of additional credit capacity. At
the same time, we maintain the option to access the high yield bond
market when conditions improve if that is still appropriate for
Capstone at the time."
About Capstone Mining Corp.
Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company,
focused on copper. We are committed to the responsible development
of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our three
producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in
Arizona, US, the Cozamin
copper-silver mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two
copper development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron
Santo Domingo project in Region
III, Chile, in partnership with
Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned copper-zinc Kutcho
project in British Columbia,
Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile. Using our cash flow and strong balance
sheet as a platform, Capstone's strategy is to continue to grow
with mineral resource and reserve expansions and exploration, and
through acquisitions in politically stable, mining-friendly
regions. We will pace our growth with our financial capacity,
ensuring we retain, as a priority, sufficient financial flexibility
to meet the requirements of our existing operations and our
committed development projects, while maintaining an adequate
cushion to deal with market volatility and operating risks inherent
in the mining industry. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).
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 related to the credit facility transactions,
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 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 "may",
"future", "expected", "intends" and "estimates". 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, commodity prices; 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; counterparty risks
associated with sales of our metals; changes in general economic
conditions; increased operating and capital costs; operating in
foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental
regulation; impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto
Valley, Cozamin and Minto
operations; increasing energy prices; our ability to integrate new
acquisitions into our operations, 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.
SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.