Day: February 22, 2017

“First Majestic delivered yet another record year of production, realizing the high end of our annual production guidance of 18.7 million silver equivalent ounces while achieving an all-in sustaining cost of $10.79 per ounce that came in well below our cost guidance range of $11.50 to $12.35 per ounce,” said Keith Neumeyer, President and CEO of First Majestic.

“Our 2016 exploration program substantially replaced our depleted Mineral Resources,” stated Damien Marantelli, Chief Operating Officer. “However, our Mineral Reserve estimate was affected by mining depletion and improvements we made to our geological controls and modelling methodologies. We believe these important changes will set up our mines for future successes through improved planning, predictability and deliverability. Primero has traditionally had a strong history of replacing Mineral Reserves and we remain confident in the significant mineral endowment of our mining districts. In 2016, our exploration programs identified additional Resources but not yet at a confidence level to convert to Reserves. This can be demonstrated by the recent discovery of an extension to the high-grade Victoria vein at San Dimas in late 2016. In an effort to increase our Mineral Reserve base going forward, at a rate closer to historical levels, our 2017 San Dimas exploration budget is approximately double the expenditure of 2016, with a focus on defining additional mineralization on known favourable structures located close to existing infrastructure. We also look forward to continuing our exploration of San Dimas’ greenfield southern concessions, which exist outside the silver purchase agreement.”

“Hecla’s financial discipline focuses on profitable production, so we used the same silver price assumption as last year, $14.50, yet still essentially replaced production despite production being a 125-year record. Maybe most impressive is that it was done with the smallest exploration budget since 2009. The margins we expect to generate give us the flexibility to increase our exploration budget by about 80%, with a focus on extending mine lives, yet still generate positive cash flow in 2017,” said Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla’s President and CEO. “At San Sebastian we are starting the year where we left off in 2016, with a significant drilling program designed to capitalize on our discovery success as we seek to expand our high-grade tonnage. The quality and quantity of the targets give us confidence that we may extend the mine life even further.”