Capstone Mining 2018 First Quarter Production Results
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced production results for the three months ended March 31, 2018. Combined production totalled 19,200 tonnes of copper in the first quarter, with additional by-products of zinc, molybdenum, lead, silver and gold.
Q1 2018 Copper Production (tonnes)
Pinto Valley 11,400
Cozamin 4,300
Minto 3,500
Total copper production (1) 19,200
(1) Total production includes copper in concentrate and cathode production.
"Cozamin outperformed in the first quarter, with production at Pinto Valley slightly lower than expectations and Minto impacted by lower grades," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "Consolidated production is expected to ramp up throughout the remaining quarters, aligned with our 2018 guidance."
"In the first quarter, we also announced an agreement to sell our Minto Mine to Pembridge Resources plc," added Mr. Pylot. "The transaction is progressing as planned and is expected to complete in the second quarter, with the proceeds earmarked to pay down our credit facility."
Operational Highlights
- At Pinto Valley, production was lower than planned with throughput and recoveries at the low end of expectations. Grade was in line with the mine plan for the quarter, with higher head grade and production expected over the remainder of the year.
- At Cozamin, production for the quarter was better than expected on higher grade.
- At Minto, production was lower than planned with mining delays in the underground operations and lower than expected grades coming from the Area 2 Stage 4 pushback, resulting in lower grade mill feed during the quarter.
Q1 2018 Operating Details
Pinto
Valley Cozamin Minto Total
Contained Production (1)
- Copper (tonnes) 11,421 4,285 3,530 19,236
- Zinc (tonnes) - 795 - 795
- Molybdenum (Mo tonnes) 29 - - 29
- Lead (tonnes) - 21 - 21
- Silver (ounces) (2) 70,435 250,175 35,404 356,014
- Gold (ounces) (2) (3) - - 2,600 2,600
Payable Copper Production (1) (tonnes)
(in concentrate and cathode) 11,037 4,115 3,415 18,567
Mine
- Ore (tonnes) - open pit 5,065,704 - 474,549 5,540,253
- Waste (tonnes) 6,789,137 - 1,312,512 8,101,649
- Ore (tonnes) - underground - 214,942 90,921 305,863
Mill
- Tonnes processed 4,834,434 212,912 366,578 5,413,924
- Tonnes processed per day 53,716 2,366 4,073 60,155
- Copper grade (%) (4) 0.27 2.09 1.16 0.40
- Zinc grade (%) - 0.62 - 0.62
- Molybdenum grade (%) 0.006 - - 0.006
- Lead grade (%) - 0.08 - 0.08
- Silver grade (g/t) * 45 4 19
- Gold grade (g/t) * - 0.35 0.35
Recoveries (%)
- Copper 83.1(4) 96.3 82.9 85.8
- Zinc - 59.8 - 59.8
- Lead - 12.4 - 12.4
- Silver * 81.4 75.0 80.5
- Gold * - 55.2 55.2
Concentrates
- Copper concentrate (dmt) 43,847 15,810 8,990 68,647
Copper (%) 25.0 27.1 39.3 27.4
Silver (g/t) * 487 123 355
Gold (g/t) * - 7.9 7.9
- Zinc concentrate (dmt) - 1,667 - 1,667
Zinc (%) - 47.7 - 47.7
- Molybdenum concentrate (dmt) 58 - - 58
- Lead concentrate (dmt) - 38 - 38
Lead (%) - 54.4 - 54.4
Silver (g/t) - 2,109 - 2,109
Payable Copper Shipped (tonnes) 12,372 3,831 3,924 20,127
(1) Adjustments based on final settlements will be made in future periods. (2) Silver
and gold at Pinto Valley and gold at Minto are not assayed on site, resulting in a
significant lag time in receiving this data. As such, these figures are estimates and
for Minto includes gold contained in copper concentrate, but excludes gold contained
in gold concentrate produced. (3) Pinto Valley gold production reaches payable levels
from time to time. Any payable gold production will be reported in the period revenue
is received. (4) Grade and recoveries were estimated based on concentrate production
and may be impacted by settlements from prior production periods. *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 2018 copper production guidance for Pinto Valley and Cozamin remains unchanged. Capstone has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of the Minto mine, with the transaction expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.
Financial Results Timing
Capstone will report Q1 2018 financial results on Tuesday, April 24, 2018 after market close, followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and analysts on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at 11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time).
Conference Call and Webcast Details
Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2018
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=1626391&s=1&k=ED9664FBED1580A051E48EE6D0B7D2E2
Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677
Replay Passcode: 285507#
The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, May 2, 2018. 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 the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo development project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation as well as a portfolio of exploration properties. 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", "planned", "expected" and "expectations". 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
Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document 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"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents.
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.
Please contact:
Cindy Burnett
VP, Investor Relations and Communications
+1-604-637-8157
cburnett@capstonemining.com
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