VANCOUVER, British Columbia,
July 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced
that it has received approval of the Environmental Impact
Assessment ("EIA") for its 70%-owned Santo Domingo project located in Region III,
Chile. The approved project
includes the mine, related infrastructure, copper and iron
processing facilities, the development of a greenfield port and
iron concentrate and seawater supply pipelines, as outlined in the
July 2014 Feasibility Study.
"We are very pleased to have received the Santo Domingo project EIA and the support
shown for the project by the local community," said Darren Pylot, Capstone President and CEO. "We
are following a disciplined stage-gate approach and are moving the
project forward in a phased manner, focusing on the copper portion
of the project first, with the option to add iron facilities should
the outlook for that market improve."
An internal analysis on a phased approach, which considers
initial production of copper at a reduced throughput rate of 30,000
to 35,000 tonnes per day, has been completed and will be advanced
to a Feasibility Study to determine the economic returns for this
option. A revised budget is in the process of being developed, but
is expected to be at or below Capstone's initial 2015 guidance. The
revised budget will be disclosed once it has been finalized. Both
KORES and POSCO E&C are supportive of this phased approach and
budget.
The decisions related to the Santo
Domingo project continue to be targeted at maximizing the
value of the project while ensuring financial flexibility for
continued growth and security for the Company's existing
operations. The decision on how and when to proceed with the
project will reflect, among other factors, general and project
specific market conditions, the financing capacity of Capstone and
the project, project economics as well as alternative investment
opportunities available to the Company.
Conference Call and Webcast
Capstone will host a conference call and webcast for investors
and analysts on Wednesday, July 8,
2015 at 11:30 am Eastern Time
(8:30 am Pacific Time). Details as
follows:
Date:
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
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://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1022144&s=1&k=48338D17C1BBDF1BBCE6D058FDB882E0
Replay:
North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677
Replay Passcode: 911397#
The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, July 22, 2015. The conference call
audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within
approximately 24 hours of the call, to access
http://capstonemining.com/investors/events-and-presentations/default.aspx
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 extend the lives of
our current mines with mineral resource and reserve expansions, to
advance the Santo Domingo
development project, conduct focused exploration and grow 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). 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
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 "guidance" 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 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; increasing energy prices; 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 technical information in this news release ("Technical
Information") 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"). The disclosure of the Technical Information contained in
this news release has been reviewed and approved by Court Muggli,
P.E., Project Director, Capstone Mining Corp. and Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer, both Qualified Persons under NI
43-101.
Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor
Relations and Communications, +1-604-637-8157,
cburnett@capstonemining.com