VANCOUVER, British Columbia,
October 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced
production results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016. Combined production totalled
32,000 and 84,700 tonnes of copper in the third quarter and
year-to-date periods, respectively, with additional by-products of
zinc, molybdenum, lead, silver and gold.
Q3 2016 Copper Production (tonnes)
Q1 Q2 Q3 YTD 2016
Pinto Valley 16,400 18,800 16,600 51,800
Cozamin 3,700 3,300 3,400 10,300
Minto 4,500 6,000 12,000 22,600
Total copper production (1) 24,600 28,100 32,000 84,700
Totals may not add due to rounding.
(1) Total production includes copper in concentrate and cathode production.
"Consolidated copper production continued to be very strong in
the third quarter, setting a second consecutive all-time production
record for Capstone," said Darren
Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "Pinto Valley
continues to demonstrate its potential, maintaining throughput at a
record pace, with the high grade ore from Minto North also
contributing to record production for the quarter."
Operational Highlights
- At Pinto Valley, throughput continued above plan, setting a
fourth straight quarterly throughput record of 57,300 tonnes per
day ("tpd") as well as achieving new monthly and daily throughput
records of 58,000 tpd in August and 63,900 tpd in September,
respectively. Grade was higher than planned, with recoveries just
marginally below expectations.
- At Cozamin, production was consistent with the guidance revised
at the end of the second quarter. Development rates have
undergone a steady improvement through the third quarter and a
number of improvements implemented throughout the year have
development progressing in accordance with the revised
forecast.
- At Minto, production continued
well above plan, reaching the levels projected in the mid-year
increased Minto guidance. Copper
grade averaged over 3% for the quarter, reflecting a full quarter
of processing Minto North high grade ore. The mill recorded a
quarterly throughput record and recoveries were strong due to the
lower than expected oxide content in the Minto North ore. Open pit
mining of the Minto North pit was completed at the end of September
and the mill is now processing high grade stockpile combined with
underground ore. Underground mining continued through the third
quarter and is planned to extend to mid-2017, as additional areas
of high-grade underground ore continue to be mined.
Operating Outlook
- Capstone's 2016 production guidance for 108,000 tonnes (±5%) of
copper remains unchanged, however, with strong performance three
quarters of the way through the year, Capstone expects to finish
the year at the high end of the consolidated guidance range.
Q3 2016 Operating Details
Pinto Valley Cozamin Minto
YTD YTD YTD
Q3 2016 Q3 2016 Q3 2016
Contained Production (1)
- Copper (tonnes) 16,658 51,799 3,358 10,306 12,010 22,625
- Zinc (tonnes) - - 1,352 3,092 - -
- Molybdenum (Mo tonnes) 28 77 - - - -
- Lead (tonnes) - - 24 93 - -
- Silver (ounces) 89,753 282,506 235,340 735,408 152,714 255,122
- Gold (ounces) (2) 478 1,182 - - 15,878 23,873
Payable Copper Production (1) (tonnes)
(in concentrate and cathode) 16,092 50,058 3,229 9,888 11,620 21,890
Mine
- Ore (tonnes) - open pit 6,014,657 17,243,804 - - 706,100 1,505,651
- Waste (tonnes) 5,194,254 14,361,398 - - 866,274 5,584,619
- Ore (tonnes) - underground - - 254,686 737,596 44,379 176,445
Mill
- Tonnes processed 5,271,183 15,339,421 254,875 742,433 394,455 1,135,869
- Tonnes processed per day 57,295 55,983 2,770 2,710 4,288 4,146
- Copper grade (%) 0.36(3) 0.37(3) 1.39 1.47 3.16 2.08
- Zinc grade (%) - - 0.75 0.67 - -
- Molybdenum grade (%) 0.006 0.007 - - - -
- Lead grade (%) - - 0.06 0.07 - -
- Silver grade (g/t) * * 40 43 13 8
- Gold grade (g/t) * * - - 1.87 0.98
Recoveries
- Copper (%) 86.5(3) 87.9(3) 94.7 94.7 96.4 95.8
- Zinc (%) - - 70.4 62.1 - -
- Lead (%) - - 14.2 17.4 - -
- Silver (%) * * 71.2 71.6 90.8 86.3
- Gold (%) * * - - 67.1 66.9
Concentrates
- Copper concentrate (dmt) 55,864 175,833 12,134 39,034 25,078 52,123
Copper (%) 29.0 28.6 27.7 26.4 47.9 43.4
Silver (g/t) * * 592 573 189 152
Gold (g/t) * * - - 19.69 14.24
- Zinc concentrate (dmt) - - 2,764 6,531 - -
Zinc (%) - - 48.9 47.3 - -
- Molybdenum concentrate (dmt) 57 162 - - - -
- Lead concentrate (dmt) - - 40 162 - -
Lead (%) - - 57.6 57.1 - -
Silver (g/t) - - 3,297 3,050 - -
Payable Copper Shipped (tonnes) 17,021 50,463 3,268 10,684 10,070 19,746
(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.
Financial Results Timing
Capstone will report Q3 2016 financial results on Tuesday, October 25, 2016 after market close,
followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and
analysts on Wednesday, October 26,
2016 at 11:30 am Eastern Time
(8:30 am Pacific Time).
Conference Call and Webcast Details
Date: Wednesday, October 26, 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=1239352&s=1&k=8BAA23C969A4C534E3BE63477AC38ADA
Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677
Replay Passcode: 651862#
The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, November 2, 2016. The conference call
audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within
48 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 and US. Capstone's strategy is to focus
on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable,
mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. 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" and "expected". 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, assumptions related to geotechnical condition of
tailings facilities, 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