VANCOUVER, July 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Capstone Mining Corp.
("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced production results for the
three and six months ended June 30,
2017. Combined production totalled 24,000 and 44,900 tonnes
of copper in the second quarter and year-to-date periods,
respectively, with additional by-products of zinc, molybdenum,
lead, silver and gold.
Q2 and YTD 2017 Copper Production (tonnes)
|
|
|
|
|
Q1
|
Q2
|
YTD
2017
|
Pinto
Valley
|
11,300
|
15,500
|
26,800
|
Cozamin
|
4,100
|
4,100
|
8,200
|
Minto
|
5,500
|
4,400
|
9,900
|
Total copper
production (1)
|
20,900
|
24,000
|
44,900
|
(1) Total
production includes copper in concentrate and cathode
production.
|
"All three of our mines produced according to plan in the second
quarter," said Darren Pylot,
President and CEO of Capstone. "Pinto Valley set new quarterly,
monthly and daily throughput records after returning to full
operations from the heavy rain and maintenance activities early in
the year."
"Cozamin's copper production once again outperformed and
Minto continued to execute a mine
plan that advances the operation towards an extended mine
life into 2020 and potentially beyond," continued Mr. Pylot.
Operational Highlights
- At Pinto Valley, throughput averaged 58,700 tonnes per day
("tpd") for the quarter, setting a quarterly throughput record as
well as achieving a new monthly throughput record in May of 60,300
tpd. Grade, recoveries and production were as planned for the
quarter.
- At Cozamin, grade and recoveries were as expected, with
throughput continuing ahead of plan on ongoing improvement in mine
production and mine development.
- At Minto, production for the
quarter was impacted by mine sequencing changes to support a mine
life extension. Throughput continued higher than planned, but head
grade and recoveries were lower than planned due to a higher
percentage of partially oxidized ore feeding the mill from the Area
2, Stage 3 open pit and underground mining running slightly behind
schedule.
Q2 and YTD 2017 Operating Details
|
|
|
|
|
Pinto
Valley
|
Cozamin
|
Minto
|
|
Q2
|
YTD
2017
|
Q2
|
YTD
2017
|
Q2
|
YTD
2017
|
Contained
Production (1)
|
|
- Copper
(tonnes)
|
15,491
|
26,791
|
4,106
|
8,236
|
4,406
|
9,926
|
- Zinc
(tonnes)
|
-
|
-
|
786
|
2,044
|
-
|
-
|
- Molybdenum (Mo
tonnes)
|
7
|
7
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
- Lead
(tonnes)
|
-
|
-
|
18
|
37
|
-
|
-
|
- Silver
(ounces)
|
86,267
|
147,748
|
233,852
|
495,474
|
41,789
|
98,174
|
- Gold (ounces)
(2)
|
581
|
3,420
|
-
|
-
|
4,982
|
13,609
|
Payable Copper
Production (1) (tonnes)
(in
concentrate and cathode)
|
14,966
|
25,887
|
3,947
|
7,918
|
4,262
|
9,603
|
Mine
|
|
- Ore (tonnes) – open
pit
|
5,610,740
|
10,047,769
|
-
|
-
|
532,929
|
576,172
|
- Waste
(tonnes)
|
6,759,251
|
13,143,552
|
-
|
-
|
2,311,740
|
4,319,767
|
- Ore (tonnes) –
underground
|
-
|
-
|
231,421
|
468,223
|
91,844
|
159,926
|
Mill
|
|
- Tonnes
processed
|
5,338,662
|
9,515,745
|
230,799
|
465,022
|
378,874
|
747,195
|
- Tonnes processed
per day
|
58,667
|
52,573
|
2,536
|
2,569
|
4,163
|
4,128
|
- Copper grade
(%)
|
0.33
(3)
|
0.32
(3)
|
1.85
|
1.84
|
1.43
|
1.55
|
- Zinc grade
(%)
|
-
|
-
|
0.55
|
0.67
|
-
|
-
|
- Molybdenum grade
(%)
|
0.005
|
0.005
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
- Lead grade
(%)
|
-
|
-
|
0.07
|
0.07
|
-
|
-
|
- Silver grade
(g/t)
|
*
|
*
|
39.6
|
42.7
|
4.5
|
5.1
|
- Gold grade
(g/t)
|
*
|
*
|
-
|
-
|
0.59
|
1.04
|
Recoveries
|
|
- Copper
(%)
|
86.1
(3)
|
85.1
(3)
|
96.1
|
96.0
|
81.5
|
85.7
|
- Zinc (%)
|
-
|
-
|
62.0
|
66.0
|
-
|
-
|
- Lead (%)
|
-
|
-
|
11.4
|
11.8
|
-
|
-
|
- Silver
(%)
|
*
|
*
|
79.6
|
77.6
|
76.3
|
79.7
|
- Gold (%)
|
*
|
*
|
-
|
-
|
69.5
|
54.4
|
Concentrates
|
|
- Copper concentrate
(dmt)
|
53,696
|
91,973
|
14,874
|
29,903
|
9,743
|
21,640
|
|
Copper (%)
|
27.9
|
28.1
|
27.6
|
27.5
|
45.2
|
45.9
|
|
Silver
(g/t)
|
*
|
*
|
483
|
509
|
133
|
141
|
|
Gold (g/t)
|
*
|
*
|
-
|
-
|
15.9
|
19.6
|
- Zinc concentrate
(dmt)
|
-
|
-
|
1,621
|
4,255
|
-
|
-
|
|
Zinc (%)
|
-
|
-
|
48.5
|
48.0
|
-
|
-
|
- Molybdenum
concentrate (dmt)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
- Lead concentrate
(dmt)
|
-
|
-
|
29
|
59
|
-
|
-
|
|
Lead (%)
|
-
|
-
|
58.9
|
61.7
|
-
|
-
|
|
Silver
(g/t)
|
-
|
-
|
2,904
|
3,216
|
-
|
-
|
Payable Copper
Shipped (tonnes)
|
12,539
|
24,942
|
3,774
|
7,838
|
4,458
|
9,573
|
|
(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 expects to be within the range of 2017 consolidated
production guidance of 94,000 tonnes (±5%) of copper. Minto and Cozamin are expected to complete the
year on, or above plan, largely offsetting Pinto Valley's first
quarter deficit.
Financial Results Timing
Capstone will report Q2 2017 financial results on Monday, July 31, 2017 before market open,
followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and
analysts the same day at 11:30 am Eastern
Time (8:30 am Pacific
Time).
Conference Call and Webcast Details
Date:
|
Monday, July 31,
2017
|
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=1421361&s=1&k=20DB088377B441B928A92B347D0179CE
|
Replay:
|
North America:
1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677
|
Replay
Passcode:
|
103102#
|
The conference call replay will be available until Monday, August 7, 2017. 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
polymetallic 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", "expected", "potentially", "guidance" 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", "plan",
"expects" 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
SOURCE Capstone Mining Corp.