VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (Marketwire) — 11/09/11 — First Majestic Silver Corp. (TSX:FR)(NYSE:AG)(FRANKFURT:FMV) (the “Company” or “First Majestic”) is pleased to announce the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial results for the Company for the third quarter ending September 30, 2011. The full version of the financial statements and the management discussion and analysis can be viewed on the Company’s web site at www.firstmajestic.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.
All financial information is prepared in accordance with IFRS and all dollar amounts are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise indicated. All Cash Costs information is now being presented on a payable ounces basis consistent with the recommendations of the Silver Institute. All prior period information has been restated or reclassified for comparative purposes unless otherwise noted.
2011 THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
— Cash Flow per share (non-IFRS) of $0.38 representing a 122% increase
from Q3 2010— Earnings per share (basic) amounted to $0.27 representing a 146%
increase from Q3 2010— Adjusted earnings per share (non-IFRS) amounted to $0.30
— Gross Revenue of $61.4 million showing an 88% increase from Q3 2010
— Net Earnings after Taxes amounted to $27.8 million, a 176% increase from
Q3 2010— Mine Operating Earnings of $42.5 million showing an increase of 168%
from Q3 2010— Total Cash Cost was US$8.39 per ounce, up 19% compared to Q3 2010
— Silver ounces produced decreased by 6% to 1,708,865 compared to
1,823,370 ounces in Q3 2010— Fully un-hedged to silver prices as treasury exceeds $106 million
2011 THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS TABLE
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Change
from
Third Third Change Second Second
Quarter Quarter Year-on- Quarter Quarter
HIGHLIGHTS 2011 2010 Year 2011 2011
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Revenues $61.4 $32.6 $68.0
million million Up 88% million Down 10%
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Mine Operating Earnings $42.5 $15.9 $46.8
million million Up 168% million Down 9%
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Net Earnings after Taxes $27.8 $10.1 $30.6
million million Up 176% million Down 9%
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Cash Flow Per Share before
changes in non-cash $0.38 per $0.17 per $0.36 per
working capital share share Up 122% share Up 7%
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Earnings per Share – basic $0.27 per $0.11 per $0.30 per
share share Up 146% share Down 10%
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Silver Ounces Produced
(excluding equivalent
ounces of gold, zinc and 1,708,865 1,823,370 1,780,379
lead) oz. Ag oz. Ag Down 6% oz. Ag Down 4%
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Payable Silver Ounces 1,655,297 1,802,172 1,761,697
Produced oz. Ag oz. Ag Down 8% oz. Ag Down 6%
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Silver Equivalent Ounces 1,791,770 1,920,498 1,843,830
Produced eq. oz. eq. oz. Down 7% eq. oz. Down 3%
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Total Cash Costs per Ounce $8.39 $7.03 Up 19% $8.32 Up 1%
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Average Revenue per
Payable Equivalent Ounces
Sold $38.83 $19.77 Up 96% $39.08 Down 1%
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Cash and Cash Equivalents $106.2 $24.8 $105.0
(as at September 30) million million Up 328% million Up 1%
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CORPORATE UPDATE
The newly expanded 1,000 tpd flotation circuit at the La Parrilla Silver Mine commenced operations on September 2, 2011 and was deemed commercial less than 30 days later on October 1, 2011. The expansion of the cyanidation circuit is continuing well with progress now reaching approximately 90% completion. Construction is expected to complete with start-up commencing later in November 2011. The new leaching tanks are now completed and the new counter current thickeners are almost complete pending the installation of the mechanisms. Once fully operational, the older 425 tpd cyanidation circuit will be replaced with this new state-of-art 1,000 tpd circuit expected by the first quarter of 2012. Also, the new 115,000 Kw power line is expected to be completed also in November which is required to run the entire plant.
The La Parrilla expansion once completed, will result in the total mill capacity reaching 2,000 tpd, effectively doubling the previous output of the La Parrilla operation from approximately 1.8 million ounces of silver equivalent produced in 2010 to more than 3.2 million equivalent ounces in 2012, consisting of 2.9 million ounces of silver, 6.0 million pounds of lead and 4.3 million pounds of zinc.
The total capital budget for the expansion, including expanded underground development is expected to be $40.5 million when completed. Incremental production, revenues and operating costs associated with the new flotation circuit were capitalized in the quarter ended September 30, 2011. Effective October 1, 2011, all revenues and costs from the flotation circuit will be treated as normal course operations and recorded in the income statement rather than being capitalized as pre-production. A total of 40,592 equivalent ounces of silver were excluded from commercial production during the quarter.
In September 2011, the Company issued a new NI 43-101 Technical Report for the La Parrilla Silver Mine which indicated that the Company’s exploration and development efforts have resulted in upgrading a significant portion of the Measured and Indicated Resources to Proven and Probable Reserves.
