MNTO Minto Metals Corp

WHITEHORSE, YT, April 6, 2023 /CNW/ - Minto Metals Corp. ("Minto" or the "Company") today announced the Company's financial and operating results for the fourth quarter ("Q4 2022") and the Full Year results of 2022 ("YTD 2022").

For complete details of the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and associated Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") please refer to the Company's filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or the Company's website (www.mintometals.com).

All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Year End December 31, 2022:

• Minto completed 2022 with consolidated production totaling 28.9 million pounds of copper, a 12.6% increase over 2021, despite record snow measuring 417% above normal resulting in a record spring freshet event;
• Multiple, new high-grade mineralized lenses were discovered through 28,438 metres of diamond drilling and two substantial, high-priority drill targets were identified through geophysics below and within 1 km of the mine infrastructure;
• Increase in revenue by $14.9 million due to higher sales volumes and higher average realized prices for copper, which were mostly driven by the strong first quarter in 2022;
• Production costs increased by 17.9% to $133.8 million compared to 2021 or 12.8% increase on a per unit basis due to the higher ore output from the mine in 2022;
• Royalty expenses increased by $4.3 million compared to the same period in 2021 due to the increased revenue and a re-assessment of 2021's royalties owing;
• Depletion and amortization was $2.7 million higher than 2021 and this was due to the Company's adding capital and leased assets to get production levels to 3,200 tonnes per day of mined ore to the surface;
• Finance costs were $2.5 million higher compared to the same period in 2021 as a result of lease additions and finance costs on higher provisionally settled amounts;
• Mark-to-market revenue loss of $3.0 million worsened from a loss of $0.3 million in 2021 as the value of the unsettled copper payable to the Company decreased due to decline in market prices compared to provisionally settled prices;
• All in sustaining costs ("AISC")¹ per pound sold averaged USD$3.88/lb. It is estimated that without the 5 week mill closure due to weather, AISC would have been approximately USD$3.55/lb; and
• $3.7 million was invested in the water treatment plant to begin the process of doubling its capacity to ensure future mill suspensions will not occur in 2023 due to water.

2022 Fourth Quarter Highlights:

• Copper sales decreased 22.6% to 6.46 million pounds for Q4 2022 compared to 8.35 million pounds for the same period in 2021 due to a mill shutdown in December as a result of extremely cold weather, contractor equipment reliability issues as well as decreases in market average copper prices;
• Revenue declined by $14.7 million to $32.6 million for Q4 2022 compared to the same period in 2021;
• Operating results:
• • Mill Feed for Q4 2022 was 25.1% lower at 195,876 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") compared to 261,615 dmt for the same period in 2021 due to a mill shutdown in December;
  • Mined ore totaled to 205,596 tonnes for Q4 2022, a 21.9% decrease compared to 263,208 tonnes for the same period in 2021;
  • Production costs for Q4 2022 were $33.6 million, a 3.5% decrease compared to $34.8 million for the same period in 2021, which is consistent with decrease in mined ore;
  • Cash costs per copper pound sold averaged USD$3.15/lb for Q4 2022, a 7.9% increase compared to $2.92/lb for the same period in 2021; and
  • AISC¹ per pound sold averaged USD$4.16/lb for Q4 2022, a 18.9% increase from USD$3.50/lb for the same period in 2021; and
• Adjusted EBITDA² for Q4 2022 totaled ($7.0) million, a decrease of $20.0 million compared to $13.1 million for the same period in 2021.

"On February 23 we announced our production results for 2022. While we completed 2022 meeting our safety and production targets, we experienced challenges at the operations throughout the year such as volatility of the copper price, ongoing supply chain impacts of COVID-19 and a record snow survey measuring 417% above normal coming out of the 2021/2022 winter which resulted in a record spring freshet event. We are pleased that total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased by 10.7% to $153.2 million compared to the same period in 2021 however at the same time, the challenges we faced throughout the year increased our cost of production. Q4 was negatively impacted by a two week mill shutdown in December due to extremely cold weather which resulted in mechanical/reliability issues with our surface crushing plant for the Mill. On a positive note, we discovered multiple, new high-grade mineralized lenses through our 28,438 metres of diamond drilling and two substantial, high-priority drill targets were identified through geophysics below and within 1 km of the mine infrastructure. We look forward to following up on these results in the second half of 2023," commented Chris Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer.

"We continue to implement changes within the operation to mitigate the risks to our 2023 production plans. The company has improved its mobile equipment maintenance and reliability within its underground fleet and is investing in the water treatment plant which will result in a doubling of its output capacity. Despite the challenging times we are experiencing, we are aggressively managing our costs and continuously working towards improving our relationships with our suppliers and other stakeholders. I would like to thank our employees, contractors and suppliers for their continuous hard work and commitment, especially when we have faced some setbacks on various fronts. I remain confident that there is more value to be unlocked at the Minto mine through exploration and increasing production to 40 million pounds of copper per year." concluded Mr. Stewart.

EBITDA¹ and Adjusted EBITDA (stated in thousands of CAD dollars) 

2022 Annual Consolidated Statements of Loss and Comprehensive Loss (stated in thousands of CAD dollars) 

2022 Annual Consolidated Statements of Financial Position (stated in thousands of CAD dollars)

2022 Annual Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (stated in thousands of CAD dollars)

About Minto Metals Corp.

Minto operates the producing Minto mine located within the traditional territory of the Selkirk First Nation in the Minto Copper Belt of the Yukon. The Minto mine has been in operation since 2007 with underground mining commencing in 2014. Since 2007, approximately 500Mlbs of copper have been produced from the Minto mine. The current mine operations are based on underground mining, a process plant to produce high-grade copper, gold, and silver concentrate, and all supporting infrastructure associated with a remote location in Yukon. The Minto property is located west of the Yukon River, about 20 km WNW of Minto Landing, the latter on the east side of the river, and approximately 250 road-km north of the City of Whitehorse, the capital city of Yukon.

Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates, and projections as of the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "anticipated" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might " or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: statements of anticipated production volume, cash costs, capital expenditures, mill production and the potential investment and development of the Water Treatment Plant.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social and international conflict uncertainties; the delay or failure to receive regulatory approvals; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions; risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk, social unrest or international conflict; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; changes in laws; risks related to the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 including, but not limited to, its impact on general economic conditions, and the ability to obtain financing as required; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time, including those risk factors set out in the Company's MD&A and annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2022. There can be no assurance that such 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 the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact Information:

Tania Barreto, CPIR
Director, Investor Relations
info@mintometals.com
604 759 4666

SOURCE Minto Metals Corp.