VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA (TSX VENTURE: SWC.DB) today
announced that the commissioning of its Phase 2 mill expansion at
the high grade Minto copper-gold mine in the Yukon is complete and
the mill has essentially achieved, and several times exceeded, its
design capacity of 2,400 tonnes per day. During the past four
weeks, to April 12, the mill processed an average of 2,336 tonnes
per day at an average feed grade of 4.5% copper and 20g/t silver,
achieved design copper recoveries of 93.5% and produced above
design concentrate grades averaging 42.8% copper. Individual day
highs during this period include mill throughput of 2,642 tonnes
per day, recoveries of 97% copper and concentrate grades of 47%
copper, showing that there is still room to fully optimize plant
performance by achieving a higher level of performance on a
sustained basis. Since gold is assayed off site, gold information
is not available until sometime later.
"Once again, our operations team at the high grade Minto
copper-gold mine have delivered a significant success by completing
the commissioning of the Phase 2 mill expansion less than three
months after construction was complete," said Stephen Quin,
President & CEO. "Despite an initially slow start to the
quarter, as the new equipment was commissioned and bedded down
combined with temporary crusher availability issues in February and
early March, the Minto Mine has clearly demonstrated its ability to
not only sustain, but to also exceed design capacity," he added.
"During the next few months, we aim to continue to optimize
operational performance of the Minto Mine while, in parallel,
looking to the implementation of the Phase 3 mill expansion."
In addition, on March 31, 2008, Sherwood's wholly owned
subsidiary, Minto Explorations Ltd., made its first principal
repayment of $4.925 million under its project loan facility.
"Making our first principal repayment under our project loan
facility is another significant milestone in Sherwood's rapid
acquisition, financing, development and expansion of operations at
the Minto Mine," said Mr. Quin. "Having achieved design performance
and, given the exceptional grade and current very high metal price,
Sherwood is looking forward to a very robust performance in 2008
and beyond."
Minto Mine Q1 Performance
As noted in the February 25, 2008 announcement, the first
quarter production in 2008 was forecast to be lower than the
average for the year as a result of commissioning activities,
scheduling of lower grade feed and unusually cold weather. During
the first three months of 2008, Sherwood completed the
commissioning of the Phase 2 mill expansion, which included the
addition of a second ball mill and additional flotation capacity to
increase processing capacity from 1,563 tonnes per day to 2,400
tonnes per day. Throughput during the quarter was affected by
commissioning activities as the new equipment was bedded down, but
was also impacted (as reported February 25, 2008) by an extended
period of unusually cold weather that affected crusher
availability, reducing mill throughput. The crusher will be
modified before next winter to avoid these issues in the future.
However, the mill has been running at design performance for the
past four weeks as detailed above. Details of the Minto Mine's
quarterly performance are tabulated below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(ii)Q1 & Q2/07 (ii)Q3/07 Q4/07 Q1/08
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Production
(contained in concentrates)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Copper (000's lbs) 473,994 3,836,043 5,350,619 11,322,942
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Gold (oz)(i) N/A N/A N/A N/A
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Silver (oz) 2,018 17,938 25,929 63,440
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Mining
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Waste (tonnes) 4,846,319 2,127,252 2,291,004 1,372,953
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Ore (tonnes) 24,793 600,261 121,273 321,431
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Total material mined (tonnes) 4,871,112 2,727,513 2,412,277 1,694,384
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Copper grade (%) 1.09 1.72 2.17 3.57
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Gold grade (g/t)(iii) 0.15 0.45 0.61 1.46
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Silver grade (g/t) 4.34 6.20 8.10 14.6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milling
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tonnes processed 20,253 117,382 100,811 152,368
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Copper grade (%) 1.64 1.90 2.57 3.61
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Gold grade (g/t)(i) N/A N/A N/A 1.73
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Silver grade (g/t) 5.06 6.93 9.13 14.80
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recoveries
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Copper (%) 64.8 78.1 93.7 94.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Gold (%) N/A N/A N/A 79.7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Silver (%) 61.3 68.6 87.7 88.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Dry tonnes produced 580 4,965 7,086 13,243
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Copper grade (%) 37.1 35.1 34.3 38.8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Gold grade (g/t)(i) N/A 9.8 11.4 N/A
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Silver grade (g/t) 108.3 112.4 113.8 149.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) Gold is not assayed on site, resulting in a significant lag in
receiving this data.
(ii) Includes capitalized pre-stripping treated as pre-production costs in
the DFS.
(iii) Gold grades for ore mined are estimated from the reserve block model,
whereas copper and silver grades are based on blast hole assays.
Note that the 2007 production statistics, previously reported on
February 25, 2008, have been adjusted as a result of year-end
reconciliations completed subsequent to that announcement.
Concentrate Shipments
In early March, Sherwood loaded approximately 9,158 dry metric
tonnes of concentrate grading approximately 36% copper on the
vessel MV Beluga Enterprise and, in early April, an additional
9,849 tonnes of concentrate grading approximately 39% copper on the
vessel MV Sanka Enternal for sale to Japanese smelters. Of these
quantities delivered, approximately 79% will be delivered into
Sherwood's copper forward sales contracts, while the balance has
been or will be sold at spot between the loading date and final
settlement date. In addition, these concentrates contain
significant gold and silver credits.
2008 Outlook
Given that the mill has demonstrated capacity in excess of
design, for the balance of the year Sherwood aims to average mill
throughput in excess of 2,400 tonnes per day in order to achieve
its production forecast of approximately 55 million pounds of
payable copper and 24,000 oz of payable gold in 2008. This forecast
was made without assuming any benefits from on-going optimizations,
such as rescheduling the pit sequencing in order to bring
production forward, coarsening the grind and implementing the Phase
3 mill expansion, details of which were outlined in the February
25, 2008 announcement.
About Sherwood Copper
Sherwood Copper's current focus is profitable production of base
and precious metals from high grade, open pit mines in Canada.
Sherwood's first operating mine, the high grade Minto copper-gold
mine in Yukon, Canada, was built on budget and ahead of schedule.
The Minto Mine is one of the highest-grade open pit copper-gold
mines in the world, and is forecast to be a low cost producer.
Aggressive exploration on the Minto property has yielded
significant success, providing Sherwood the opportunity to 'grow
from within' by expanding the resource and reserve base,
potentially leading to further production increases. To further
accelerate its production growth, Sherwood intends to pursue merger
& acquisition opportunities that fit its business model and, in
March 2008, Sherwood acquired more than 93% ownership in Western
Keltic Mines, owner of the high-grade Kutcho
copper-zinc-gold-silver deposit in northwestern British Columbia.
Sherwood aims to repeat its successful development of the Minto
Mine at the Kutcho project.
Quality Assurance
The technical information in this news release has been prepared
in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in
National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed by Stephen P. Quin, P.
Geo., President & CEO for Sherwood Copper Corporation. The
operational information relating to the Minto Mine in this release
have been carried out under the supervision of Randall Thompson,
General Manager of the Minto Mine, and Kevin Weston P.Eng., Chief
Operating Officer for Sherwood Copper.
Additional Information
Additional information on Sherwood and its Minto Project can be
obtained on Sherwood's website at
http://www.sherwoodcopper.com.
On behalf of the board of directors
SHERWOOD COPPER CORPORATION
Stephen P. Quin, President & CEO
This document may contain "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document
and the Company does not intend, and does not assume any
obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future
performance and reflect 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
resources, 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",
"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. 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 actual results of
current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as
plans continue to be refined; future prices of resources; possible
variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents,
labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in
obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion
of development or construction activities; 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 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.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press
release.
Contacts: Sherwood Copper Corporation Stephen P. Quin President
& CEO (604) 687-7545 Sherwood Copper Corporation Brad Kopp
Investor Contact (604) 687-7545 (604) 689-5041 (FAX) Website:
www.sherwoodcopper.com
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