Vancouver, British Columbia – Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced operating results for the three and nine months ending September 30, 2014 of its three operating mines: Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto. Combined production totalled 26,200 and 81,500 tonnes of copper (in concentrates and cathode) in the third quarter and year-to-date periods, respectively, with additional by-products of zinc, molybdenum, lead, silver and gold.
Q3 2014 Production (tonnes)
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | YTD 2014 | |
| Pinto Valley | ||||
| Copper in concentrates | 16,700 | 16,900 | 15,800 | 49,400 |
| Copper cathode | 600 | 500 | 700 | 1,800 |
| Pinto Valley Total | 17,300 | 17,400 | 16,500 | 51,200 |
| Cozamin | ||||
| Copper in concentrates | 5,100 | 5,200 | 4,900 | 15,200 |
| Minto | ||||
| Copper in concentrates | 5,200 | 5,100 | 4,800 | 15,100 |
| Total Copper production(1) | 27,600 | 27,700 | 26,200 | 81,500 |
Totals may not add due to rounding. (1) Total production includes copper in concentrate and cathode production.
"All of our mines are operating according to plan and copper production remains on target to meet our guidance for the year," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "Pinto Valley continues to produce on plan and our focus remains on a number of cost improvement and mill reliability initiatives."
Operational Highlights
- Payable copper shipped for the quarter from all three mines was 29,031 tonnes.
- Pinto Valley recoveries continued strong in the third quarter, more than offsetting marginally lower throughput than planned. Grade was as expected for the quarter. The mill posted its highest average quarterly throughput to date and has continued to demonstrate consistent improvement, averaging just under expected rates for the third quarter. Heavy rains in September caused some wet ore to slow the crushing circuit. The main focus in the quarter was the re-build and commissioning of the molybdenum circuit and the implementation of the PV2 mine plan, receiving the first of two new hydraulic shovels, which was operational by the end of quarter.
- At Cozamin, throughput and recoveries were good, partially offsetting lower copper grade than planned. The copper grade improved as expected starting in September, slightly later than called for in the 2014 mine plan as the installation of additional ground support impacted the release of some new mining areas.
- At Minto, throughput and recoveries continued as planned. Grade was slightly lower than planned as more stockpile was milled than originally planned to maximize throughput. The Area 118 open pit mining was completed in September and the M-Zone underground is expected to be completed in October. Processing in the fourth quarter will be from stockpile, supplemented with ore from the M-Zone along with Area 118 underground which has been brought forward in the mine plan.
Q3 2014 Operating Details
| Pinto Valley | Cozamin | Minto | ||||||
| Q3 | YTD 2014 | Q3 | YTD 2014 | Q3 | YTD 2014 | |||
| Contained Copper Production(1) (contained in concentrates and cathode) | ||||||||
| – Copper in concentrate (tonnes) | 15,819 | 49,412 | 4,948 | 15,240 | 4,761 | 15,112 | ||
| – Copper cathode (tonnes) | 650 | 1,796 | – | – | – | – | ||
| – Zinc (tonnes) | – | – | 1,517 | 4,877 | – | – | ||
| – Molybdenum (Mo tonnes) | 15 | 64 | – | – | – | – | ||
| – Lead (tonnes) | – | – | 190 | 935 | – | – | ||
| – Silver (ounces) | 85,272 | 231,307 | 392,864 | 1,267,142 | 38,916 | 147,319 | ||
| – Gold (ounces)(2) | – | – | – | – | 6,198 | 16,512 | ||
| Payable Copper Production(1) (tonnes) (in concentrate and cathode) | 15,931(3) | 49,526 (3) | 4,733 | 14,567 | 4,607 | 14,621 | ||
| Mine | ||||||||
| – Ore (tonnes) — open pit | 5,499,995 | 15,968,559 | – | – | 89,009 | 477,457 | ||
| – Waste (tonnes) | 246,934 | 802,308 | – | – | 873,062 | 2,770,232 | ||
| – Ore (tonnes) — underground | – | – | 301,636 | 914,669 | 135,210 | 232,660 | ||
| Mill | ||||||||
| – Tonnes processed | 4,498,364 | 12,871,778 | 301,673 | 923,155 | 360,296 | 1,088,267 | ||
| – Tonnes processed per day | 48,895 | 47,149 | 3,279 | 3,382 | 3,916 | 3,986 | ||
| – Copper grade (%) | 0.39 (3) | 0.43 (3) | 1.76 | 1.78 | 1.41 | 1.48 | ||
| – Zinc grade (%) | – | – | 0.78 | 0.86 | – | – | ||
| – Molybdenum grade (%) | 0.012 | 0.012 | – | – | – | – | ||
| – Lead grade (%) | – | – | 0.13 | 0.19 | – | – | ||
| – Silver grade (g/t) | * | * | 57.7 | 60.1 | 4.4 | 5.2 | ||
| – Gold grade (g/t) | – | – | – | – | 0.65 | 0.60 | ||
| Recoveries | ||||||||
| – Copper (%) | 90.3 (3) | 89.0 (3) | 93.0 | 92.7 | 93.8 | 93.9 | ||
| – Zinc (%) | – | – | 64.7 | 61.1 | – | – | ||
| – Lead (%) | – | – | 48.5 | 53.2 | – | – | ||
| – Silver (%) | * | * | 70.2 | 71.0 | 77.1 | 80.4 | ||
| – Gold (%) | – | – | – | – | 82.3 | 78.7 | ||
| Concentrates(2) | ||||||||
| – Copper concentrate (dmt) | 51,280 | 162,622 | 19,160 | 59,960 | 12,470 | 39,330 | ||
| Copper (%) | 30.8 | 30.4 | 25.8 | 25.4 | 38.2 | 38.4 | ||
| Silver (g/t) | * | * | 586.0 | 591.0 | 97.0 | 116.5 | ||
| Gold (g/t) | – | – | – | – | 15.5 | 13.1 | ||
| – Zinc concentrate (dmt) | – | – | 3,364 | 10,519 | – | – | ||
| Zinc (%) | – | – | 45.1 | 46.4 | – | – | ||
| – Molybdenum concentrate (dmt) | 29 | 128 | – | – | – | – | ||
| – Lead concentrate (dmt) | – | – | 343 | 1,554 | – | – | ||
| Lead (%) | – | – | 55.4 | 60.2 | – | – | ||
| Silver (g/t) | – | – | 2,904 | 2,557 | – | – | ||
| Payable Copper Shipped(tonnes) (in concentrate and cathode) | 17,521 | 48,686 | 5,098 | 15,014 | 6,412 | 16,495 | ||
(1) Adjustments based on final settlements will be made in future periods. (2) Final gold production is not available since assaying is conducted off-site, but is estimated above. (3) Grade and recoveries were estimated based on concentrate production. *Silver has not been estimated in the Pinto Valley resource model. Only recovered silver is reported for this mine.
Production Outlook
Capstone's 2014 guidance for 102,000 tonnes ±5% of copper in concentrates, at a C1 cash cost(1) of US$1.90 to US$2.00 per pound of payable copper, net of by-product credits and selling costs, remains unchanged.
Financial Results Timing
Capstone will report Q3 2014 financial results on Wednesday October 29, 2014 after market close, followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and analysts on Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 11:30 am Eastern Time (8:30 am Pacific Time).
Conference Call and Webcast Details
| Date: | Thursday, October 30, 2014 |
| 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://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/detail/1420970/1578324 |
| Replay: | North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: +416-764-8677 |
| Replay Passcode: | 273766# |
The conference call replay will be available until Thursday, November 13, 2014. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within approximately 24 hours of the call athttp://capstonemining.com/s/conference-calls.asp.
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 copper-silver mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two copper development projects; the large scale 70% owned copper-iron Santo Domingo project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned copper-zinc Kutcho project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Chile. Using our cash flow and strong balance sheet as a platform, Capstone's strategy is to continue to grow with mineral resource and reserve expansions and exploration, and through acquisitions in politically stable, mining-friendly regions. We will pace our growth with our financial capacity, ensuring we retain, as a priority, sufficient financial flexibility to meet the requirements of our existing operations and our committed development projects, while maintaining an adequate cushion to deal with market volatility and operating risks inherent in the mining industry. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at www.capstonemining.com.
For further information please contact:
Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor Relations and Communications
604-637-8157
[email protected]
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 Mining Corp. (the "Company") 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 Company 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 mineral resources, the conversion of mineral resources to mineral reserves, 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", "outlook", "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. In this document certain forward-looking statements are identified by words including "guidance", "plan", "planned", "estimated", "projections", "projected" and "expected". 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 mineral resources; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; accidents; dependence on key personnel; labour pool constraints; labour disputes; availability of infrastructure required for the development of mining projects; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals; changes in general economic conditions; increased operating and capital costs; operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation; impact of climatic conditions on our Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto operations; increasing energy prices; our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, 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 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.
National Instrument 43-101 Compliance 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 Brad Skeeles, P. Eng., Vice President of North American Operations, and Gregg Bush, P. Eng., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, both Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.
Alternative Performance Measures The item marked with (1) "C1 Cash Cost per Pound of Payable Copper Produced" is an Alternative Performance Measure. This performance measure is included because this statistic is a key performance measure that management uses to monitor performance. Management uses this statistic to assess how the Company is performing to plan and to assess the overall effectiveness and efficiency of mining operations. This performance measure does not have a meaning within IFRS and, therefore, amounts presented may not be comparable to similar data presented by other mining companies. This performance measure should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for measures of performance in accordance with IFRS.
