Mr. Darren Pylot reports

CAPSTONE MINING 2015 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Capstone Mining Corp. has released its financial results for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015. (All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified.) Operating cash flow before changes in working capital(1) for the year was $60-million or 16 cents per share, with a net loss of $251.5-million and an adjusted net loss of $31.9-million after adjusting for certain non-cash and non-recurring charges. Copper production for the year totalled 92,600 tonnes (89,300 tonnes of payable copper) at a C1 cash cost(1) of $1.99 per payable pound produced, with copper sales for the year of 87,500 tonnes at a C1 cash cost(1) of $2 per payable pound sold.

Capstone will hold a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT) to discuss these results; call-in details and information on associated slides are provided at the end of this release. This release should be read in conjunction with Capstone's consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, which are available on Capstone's website and on SEDAR. An updated corporate presentation, including results to Dec. 31, 2015, in addition to the 2015 year-end webcast slides, will also be available on Capstone's website.

                                                           OVERVIEW
                                                                               Q4 2015    Q4 2014       2015       2014

Revenue ($ millions)                                                              92.1      139.5      420.5      656.0
Copper produced (tonnes)                                                        25,691     22,478     92,577    100,940
Payable copper produced (tonnes)                                                24,781     22,282     89,341     99,739
C1 cash cost per payable pound produced(1) ($)                                    1.81       1.88       1.99       1.93
Copper sold (tonnes)                                                            22,322     23,705     87,521    103,901
Realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb)*                                      2.05       2.79       2.35       3.03
Adjusted realized copper price per pound sold ($/lb)**                            2.26       2.79       2.43       3.03
C1 cash cost per payable pound sold(1) ($/lb)                                     1.82       1.87       2.00       1.89
All-in sustaining cost per payable pound sold(1) ($/lb)                           2.27       2.55       2.46       2.32
All-in cost per payable pound sold(1) ($/lb)                                      2.78       2.80       2.92       2.49
Fully loaded all-in cost per payable pound sold(1) ($/lb)                         2.78       2.92       2.89       2.70
Net (loss) ($ millions)                                                          (19.5)     (34.4)    (251.5)     (22.4)
Net (loss) attributable to shareholders ($ millions)                             (19.3)     (33.9)    (202.7)     (21.1)
Net (loss) attributable to shareholders per common share ($)                     (0.05)     (0.09)     (0.53)     (0.06)
Adjusted net (loss) income(1) ($ millions)                                        (8.0)      (3.3)     (31.9)      32.0
Adjusted net (loss) income attributable to shareholders(1) ($ millions)           (7.8)      (4.1)     (30.4)      30.8
Adjusted net (loss) income attributable to shareholders per common share ($)     (0.02)     (0.01)     (0.08)      0.08
Adjusted EBITDA(1) ($ millions)                                                   25.9       40.4       96.2      231.6
Adjusted EBITDA(1) per common share ($)                                           0.07       0.11       0.25       0.61
Operating cash flow before changes in working capital(1) ($ millions)             12.5       30.7       60.0      199.4
Operating cash flow before changes in working capital per common share(1) ($)     0.03       0.08       0.16       0.53
Cash and cash equivalents ($ millions)                                           101.6      150.1      101.6      150.1
Net (debt) cash(1) ($ millions)                                                 (247.9)    (127.7)    (247.9)    (127.7)

*  The fourth quarter 2015 results include a negative provisional pricing adjustment of $4.2-million (2014 -- negative 
   $13.6-million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to (nine cents) per pound (2014 -- (26 cents) per pound) of 
   copper sold during the quarter. The year-to-date results include a negative provisional pricing adjustment of 
   $25.8-million (2014 -- negative $11.2-million) related to prior shipments, equivalent to (13 cents) per pound (2014 
   -- (five cents) per pound) of copper sold during the year.
** Adjusted realized copper price includes the provisional pricing adjustments noted above and realized gains of 
   $10.1-million related to copper put contracts exercised in the fourth quarter of 2015 (2014 -- nil) and realized 
   gains of $15.9-million related to copper put contracts exercised in 2015 (2014 -- nil).

"Despite very challenging market conditions for base metal companies in 2015, we posted positive cash flow before changes in working capital of $60-million," said Darren Pylot, president and chief executive officer of Capstone. "We took a number of steps through the year to reduce costs and improve reliability at our operations, with fourth quarter throughput at Pinto Valley of 54,000 tonnes per day surpassing our expectations and positioning the mine well for the next planned expansion. In addition, we made several strategic decisions throughout 2015 to preserve our financial flexibility, including protecting our revenue through price fixing and zero-cost copper collars, as well as suspending work on our Santo Domingo project until market conditions improve.

"We ended the year in compliance with all of our debt covenants," continued Mr. Pylot. "All of our mines are operating on plan, with significantly lower operating costs projected for 2016, and we remain focused on cost control and efficiencies across the company. Our expected capital expenditures for 2016 are also substantially lower as we completed the capital spending for expansion in 2015 to set us up for the future. In addition, we have a number of options to ensure liquidity and covenant compliance should circumstances warrant."

Financial and production highlights for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015

• Net loss of $251.5-million, which included:
  • Loss from mining operations of $30.5-million:
    • Realized copper price of $2.35 per pound;
  • Production costs included a $24.2-million non-cash charge related to the writedown of inventory at the Pinto Valley and Minto mines;
  • A non-cash charge of $201.7-million related to the impairment of mineral property, plant and equipment at Santo Domingo, Minto and Kutcho;
  • A non-cash charge of $5.8-million related to the impairment of available-for-sale securities;
  • A commodity derivative gain of $24-million, comprising a realized gain of $15.9-million combined with an unrealized gain of $8.1-million;
  • An income tax recovery of $19-million;
• Adjusted EBITDA(1) (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $96.2-million or 25 cents per common share after making adjustments for certain non-cash and other items;
• Operating cash flow before changes in working capital(1) of $60-million or 16 cents per common share;
• Working capital increased to $162.4-million at Dec. 31, 2015 (which included $101.6-million of cash and cash equivalents), from $106.5-million at Dec. 31, 2014;
• Production of 89,341 tonnes of payable copper at a C1 cash cost(1) of $1.99 per pound of payable copper produced;
• Revenue of $420.5-million, generated primarily from the sale of 87,521 tonnes of copper.

Operational highlights for the quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2015

Pinto Valley mine:

• Produced 16,358 tonnes of copper during the fourth quarter of 2015 at a C1 cash cost(1) of $1.76 per pound of payable copper produced;
• Produced 60,412 tonnes of copper during 2015 at a C1 cash cost(1) of $1.97 per pound of payable copper produced;
• Mill reliability significantly improved, with the fourth quarter of 2015 setting daily, monthly and quarterly throughput records under Capstone ownership of 60,500, 54,800 and 54,100 tonnes per day, respectively;
• Released the PV3 PFS (prefeasibility study) in January, 2016, which extended the mine life by 13 years to 2039 and increased throughput by 8 per cent without any major capital investment. Annual production will average 55,700 tonnes of copper from 473.8 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves grading 0.31 per cent copper.

Cozamin mine:

• Produced 4,883 tonnes of copper during the fourth quarter of 2015 at a C1 cash cost(1) of $1.30 per pound of payable copper produced;
• Produced 15,650 tonnes of copper during 2015 at a C1 cash cost(1) of $1.47 per pound of payable copper produced;
• Changes in mining practices and the need to adapt practices to increase ore production from the footwall zone resulted in a shortfall in production in the first half of the year and slower-than-expected mine development during the first half of 2015. Activities related to dilution control produced significant improvements in the latter half of the year, and while the mine is continuing to work toward increasing developed stopes, it has largely overcome the issues that led to the production shortfall experienced early in the year.

Minto mine:

• Produced 4,450 tonnes of copper during the fourth quarter of 2015 at a C1 cash cost(1) of $2.58 per pound of payable copper produced, which included 29 cents per pound of cost allocated from stockpile that was spent in prior periods, bringing the actual cash expended during the fourth quarter of 2015 to $2.29 per pound of payable copper produced;
• Produced 16,515 tonnes of copper during 2015 at a C1 cash cost(1) of $2.54 per pound of payable copper produced, which included 24 cents per pound of cost allocated from stockpile that was spent in prior periods, bringing the actual cash expended during 2015 to $2.30 per pound of payable copper produced;
• The mill processed ore from underground and stockpiles for much of 2015, while awaiting receipt of a water use licence amendment. The Yukon Water Board issued the water use licence on Aug. 5, 2015, which completed the final stage of permitting for all of the mineral reserves identified in the July, 2012, phase 6 PFS. Stripping of the Minto North pit began immediately, with first ore reached as expected in December.

Operating outlook

Capstone's 2016 production guidance is 108,000 tonnes (plus or minus 5 per cent) of copper with C1 cash costs(1) of $1.45 to $1.55 per pound of payable copper produced, net of byproduct credits and selling costs.

Capital outlook

Capstone's 2016 capital expenditures are expected to be $40.2-million for sustaining capital, $2.3-million for PV3 development work, and $37.7-million for capitalized stripping at Pinto Valley and Minto. An additional $8.4-million is budgeted for both brownfield and greenfield exploration; however, as exploration activities are discretionary, they will be aligned with prevailing market conditions, financing capacity and corporate priorities.

Conference call and webcast details

Date:  Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016

Time:  11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT)

Dial-in number:  North America 1-888-390-0546, international 416-764-8688

Webcast:  on-line

Replay:  North America 1-888-390-0541, international 416-764-8677

Replay passcode:  535944 followed by the pound sign

The conference call replay will be available until Wednesday, March 2, 2016. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within approximately 24 hours of the call.

Compliance with National Instrument 43-101 (standards of disclosure for mineral projects)

Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&As available under Capstone's company profile on SEDAR. Each disclosure document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101. Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the disclosure documents that qualify 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 was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101. The disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gregg Bush, PEng, senior vice-president and chief operating officer. Technical information related to mineral exploration activities has been reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, PGeol, senior vice-president, exploration. Both are qualified persons under NI 43-101.

Alternative performance measures

The items marked with a (1) are alternative performance measures, and readers should refer to alternative performance measures in the company's consolidated MD&A for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, as filed on SEDAR and as available on the company's website.

We seek Safe Harbor.