VANCOUVER, British Columbia,
April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/
-- Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today
announced production results for the three months ended
March 31, 2016. Combined production
totalled 24,600 tonnes of copper, with additional by-products of
zinc, molybdenum, lead, silver and gold.
Q1 2016 Copper
Production (tonnes)
|
|
|
Pinto
Valley
|
16,400
|
Cozamin
|
3,700
|
Minto
|
4,500
|
Total copper
production (1)
|
24,600
|
(1) Total
production includes copper in concentrate and cathode
production.
|
|
"Copper production for the quarter comfortably met our
guidance," said Darren Pylot,
President and CEO of Capstone. "At Pinto Valley, mill reliability
and throughput continued the positive momentum from the fourth
quarter of 2015, once again exceeding expectations, with quarterly
throughput averaging 55,000 tonnes per day. Minto posted very strong production led by
better than expected recoveries, partially offsetting a production
shortfall at Cozamin."
Operational Highlights
- At Pinto Valley, continuing strong mill performance exceeded
the scheduled throughput target of 54,000 tpd and production was
ahead of guidance for the quarter. The mill posted the second
straight quarter of new daily, monthly and quarterly throughput
records of 62,400, 56,700 and 55,000 tpd, respectively. In
addition, grade was also better than planned for the quarter.
- Cozamin had a shortfall in production for the quarter due to
block model reconciliation in two stopes, as well as a delay in
mine development mainly due to flooded mine areas caused by
extraordinary rain events last year.
- At Minto, higher recoveries
resulted from lower than expected oxide content in the Minto North
ore. Mining rates and access to Minto North ore continued on
schedule.
- Better than expected performance at Pinto Valley and
Minto more than offset the
production shortfall at Cozamin during the quarter.
(1) This is an
alternative performance measure; please see "Alternative
Performance Measures" at the end of this release. All amounts in
US$ unless otherwise specified.
|
|
Q1 2016 Operating
Details
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pinto
Valley
|
Cozamin
|
Minto
|
Total
|
Contained
Production (1)
|
|
|
|
|
- Copper
(tonnes)
|
16,365
|
3,660
|
4,522
|
24,547
|
- Zinc
(tonnes)
|
-
|
812
|
-
|
812
|
- Molybdenum (Mo
tonnes)
|
6
|
-
|
-
|
6
|
- Lead
(tonnes)
|
-
|
34
|
-
|
34
|
- Silver
(ounces)
|
92,287
|
266,542
|
42,761
|
401,590
|
- Gold (ounces)
(2)
|
441
|
-
|
3,114
|
3,555
|
Payable Copper
Production (1) (tonnes)
(in concentrate and cathode)
|
15,816
|
3,503
|
4,375
|
23,694
|
Mine
|
|
|
|
|
- Ore (tonnes) – open
pit
|
5,514,529
|
-
|
328,901
|
5,843,430
|
- Waste
(tonnes)
|
4,106,993
|
-
|
2,570,770
|
6,677,763
|
- Ore (tonnes) –
underground
|
-
|
242,163
|
110,965
|
353,128
|
Mill
|
|
|
|
|
- Tonnes
processed
|
5,002,573
|
243,901
|
362,608
|
5,609,082
|
- Tonnes processed
per day
|
54,973
|
2,680
|
3,985
|
61,638
|
- Copper grade
(%)
|
0.36(3)
|
1.59
|
1.32
|
0.48
|
- Zinc grade
(%)
|
-
|
0.62
|
-
|
0.62
|
- Molybdenum grade
(%)
|
0.007
|
-
|
-
|
0.007
|
- Lead grade
(%)
|
-
|
0.07
|
-
|
0.07
|
- Silver grade
(g/t)
|
*
|
48
|
5
|
22
|
- Gold grade
(g/t)
|
*
|
-
|
0.40
|
0.40
|
Recoveries
|
|
|
|
|
- Copper
(%)
|
87.2(3)
|
94.4
|
94.5
|
89.6
|
- Zinc (%)
|
-
|
53.3
|
-
|
53.3
|
- Lead (%)
|
-
|
18.8
|
-
|
18.8
|
- Silver
(%)
|
*
|
70.9
|
77.6
|
71.8
|
- Gold (%)
|
*
|
-
|
66.9
|
66.9
|
Concentrates
|
|
|
|
|
- Copper concentrate
(dmt)
|
57,441
|
14,532
|
12,161
|
84,133
|
|
Copper (%)
|
27.6
|
25.2
|
37.2
|
28.6
|
|
Silver
(g/t)
|
*
|
558
|
109
|
354
|
|
Gold (g/t)
|
*
|
-
|
7.96
|
7.96
|
- Zinc concentrate
(dmt)
|
-
|
1,808
|
-
|
1,808
|
|
Zinc (%)
|
-
|
44.9
|
-
|
44.9
|
- Molybdenum
concentrate (dmt)
|
12
|
-
|
-
|
12
|
- Lead concentrate
(dmt)
|
-
|
58
|
-
|
58
|
|
Lead (%)
|
-
|
58.7
|
-
|
58.7
|
|
Silver
(g/t)
|
-
|
3,044
|
-
|
3,044
|
Payable Copper
Shipped (tonnes)
|
16,749
|
4,180
|
7,056
|
27,985
|
|
(1) Adjustments
based on final settlements will be made in future periods. (2)
Pinto Valley gold production reaches payable levels from time to
time. Any payable gold production will be reported in the period
revenue is received. At Minto, final gold production is not
available since assaying is conducted off-site, but is estimated
above. (3) Grade and recoveries were estimated based on concentrate
production. *Silver and gold have not been estimated in the Pinto
Valley resource model. Only recovered silver and payable gold is
reported for this mine.
|
|
Operating Outlook
Capstone's 2016 production guidance for 108,000 tonnes (±5%) of
copper with C1 cash cost (1) of $1.45 to $1.55 per pound, and Fully-Loaded All-In
Cost (1) of $2.05 to $2.15
per pound, of payable copper produced net of by-product credits and
selling costs, remains unchanged.
(1) This is an
alternative performance measure; please see "Alternative
Performance Measures" at the end of this release. All amounts in
US$ unless otherwise specified.
|
Financial Results Timing
Capstone will report Q1 2016 financial results on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 after market close,
followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and
analysts on Wednesday, April 27, 2016
at 11:30 am Eastern Time
(8:30 am Pacific Time).
Conference Call and Webcast Details
Date:
|
|
Wednesday, April 27,
2016
|
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=1144309&s=1&k=B5BC94165864B3E62231036C08453949
|
Replay:
|
|
North America:
1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677
|
Replay
Passcode:
|
|
982010#
|
|
|
|
The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, May 11, 2016. The conference call
audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within
approximately 24 hours of the call at
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
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 Kutcho copper-zinc
project in British Columbia,
Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile. Capstone's strategy is to continue to
extend the lives of our current mines with mineral resource and
reserve expansions, maintain the optionality on the Santo Domingo development project, prudently
progress the exploration portfolio and grow through acquisitions in
politically stable, mining-friendly regions. We will pace our
growth with our financial capacity, to 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 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 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 our expectations or beliefs regarding
future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, statements with respect to the estimation of mineral
resources and mineral reserves, the realization of mineral reserve
estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production,
costs of production and capital expenditures, the success of our
mining operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation
expenses and title disputes. In certain cases, forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans",
"expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts",
"intends", "anticipates", "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", "expectations", "planned",
"estimated", "budgeted" and "schedule". By their very nature,
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results,
performance or achievements to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst
others, risks related to inherent hazards associated with mining
operations, future prices of copper and other metals, compliance
with financial covenants, surety bonding, our ability to raise
capital, counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals,
use of financial derivative instruments and associated counterparty
risks, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in
general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and
mineral reserve estimates, operating in foreign jurisdictions with
risk of changes to governmental regulation, compliance with
governmental regulations, compliance with environmental laws and
regulations, reliance on approvals, licences and permits from
governmental authorities, impact of climatic conditions on our
Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto
operations, aboriginal title claims and rights to consultation and
accommodation, land reclamation and mine closure obligations,
uncertainties and risks related to the potential development of the
Santo Domingo Project, increased operating and capital costs,
challenges to title to our mineral properties, dependence on key
management personnel, potential conflicts of interest involving our
directors and officers, corruption and bribery, limitations
inherent in our insurance coverage, labour relations, increasing
energy prices, competition in the mining industry, risks associated
with joint venture partners, our ability to integrate new
acquisitions into our operations, cybersecurity threats 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 under
the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the
Company has attempted to identify important factors that could
cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ
materially from those described in our forward-looking statements,
there may be other factors that cause our results, performance or
achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There
can be no assurance that our forward-looking statements will prove
to be accurate, as our actual results, performance or achievements
could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on our
forward-looking statements.
National Instrument 43-101 Compliance
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 Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Capstone Senior Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer, a Qualified Person under NI
43-101.
Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor
Relations and Communications, +1-604-637-8157,
cburnett@capstonemining.com