Mr. Darren Blasutti reports
AMERICAS SILVER CORPORATION ANNOUNCES 2016 PRODUCTION AND COSTS, 2017 GUIDANCE, AND GLENCORE PRE-PAYMENT FACILITY
Americas Silver Corp. has released its preliminary consolidated production and
operating cost results for fiscal 2016 and guidance for fiscal 2017. A
subsidiary of the company has also entered into a non-dilutive $15-million prepayment facility with a subsidiary of Glencore PLC, with
proceeds used to support the development costs for the San Rafael
zinc-lead-silver project within the Cosala district of
Sinaloa, Mexico. The information provided in this press release is
preliminary and unaudited; final results in the 2016 annual consolidated
financial statements and management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) may
differ. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated.
Consolidated 2016 results and 2017 guidance
The company had consolidated silver production of 2.4 million
silver ounces and 4.7 million silver-equivalent ounces,
slightly below the 2016 guidance estimates of 2.5 million silver ounces and five million silver-equivalent ounces. This shortfall to guidance
was primarily due to the ground movement at the Nuestra Senora mine
announced in April, 2016, that impaired access to the mine for the entire
second quarter as development crews worked to re-establish access. Despite
this ground movement, both silver cash costs and all-in
sustaining costs (AISC) met guidance at $10.00 per ounce
and $12.71 per ounce, a decrease of 22 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively, as a
result of cost discipline and the increase in the sales price of its
byproduct metals. Please see the attached table for details. The cash
balance as at Dec. 31, 2016, was $24.1-million.
CONSOLIDATED RESULTS AND GUIDANCE
2015 actual 2016 actual 2017 guidance
Silver production 2.65M oz 2.39M oz 2.0 to 2.5M oz
Silver-equivalent production (1) 4.87M oz 4.68M oz 5.5 to 6.0M oz
Silver cost of sales (1) $10.80/oz AgEq $9.92/oz AgEq $8 to $10/oz AgEq
Silver cash costs (2) $12.75/oz $10.00/oz $4 to $5/oz
Silver all-in sustaining costs (2) $17.16/oz $12.71/oz $9 to $10/oz
(1) Silver-equivalent figures for 2015 are based on $17.00 per
ounce silver, 95 cents per pound zinc, 90 cents per pound lead and $2.90 per
pound copper. Silver-equivalent figures
for 2016 are based on $14.50 per ounce silver, 75 cents per pound zinc,
80 cents per pound lead and $2.00 per pound copper. Silver-equivalent figures and silver cost guidance for 2017 are
based on $16.50 per ounce silver, $1.15 per pound zinc, 95 cents per pound
lead and $2.50 per pound copper.
(2) Cash cost per ounce and all-in sustaining cost per ounce
are non-international financial reporting standards financial performance measures with no standardized
definition. For further information and detailed reconciliations, please
refer to the company's 2015 year-end and quarterly MD&A. The performance
measures for the year ended Dec. 31, 2016, are preliminary throughout
this press release subject to refinement from the company's year-end
financial results to be released on or before March 14, 2017.
As previously announced, the company began construction of the San
Rafael project at its Cosala operations after receiving board approval
at the end of third quarter 2016. The project is targeted to be in production by
the end of third quarter 2017 at a reduced initial capital cost of $18-million.
The Nuestra Senora and El Cajon mines are expected to operate up to the
end of second quarter 2017, after which the project is expected to begin
preproduction operations during third quarter 2017. As a result, the first half
of the year is expected to have results similar to those experienced in
2016, followed by a gradual reduction in silver cash costs and AISC in
the third quarter, with the project in commercial production in
the fourth quarter with significantly lower silver cash costs
and AISC. The Galena mine is expected to continue to operate similarly
as in 2016 with a continuing focus on mining silver-lead mineralization
on the 3200 and 4900 levels of the mine. As a result, consolidated
silver cash costs are projected to fall approximately 55 per cent year over year
to between $4 and $5 per ounce, and silver all-in sustaining cash costs
are projected to drop approximately 25 per cent year over year to $9 to $10 per
ounce.
"We are very excited for our investors as the San Rafael project is
developed and transitions into production this year. The transition will
prove to be a significant catalyst for our share price as it will drive
our consolidated costs lower to silver-industry, first-quartile,
consolidated cash costs and all-in sustaining costs, and create
considerable free cash flow. This is an accomplishment which neither of
the predecessor companies ever envisioned," said Darren Blasutti,
president and chief executive officer of Americas Silver. "Though 2016 silver
and silver-equivalent production was slightly below guidance, the
company was able to maintain its pattern of cost control and benefited
from higher byproduct metal prices."
Consolidated production details
Consolidated silver production for the 2016 was approximately 2.39 million
ounces, which represents an decrease of 10 per cent compared with 2015. Silver-equivalent production was approximately 4,682,000 ounces, down 4 per cent
compared with 2015. Consolidated cash costs improved by 22 per cent to $10.00 per
silver ounce compared with 2015, while AISC improved by 26 per cent to $12.71
per silver ounce compared with 2015. In addition, lead production
increased 27 per cent year over year, as the Galena complex continued to
successfully increase silver-lead ore production as part of management's
strategic vision for the mine.
CONSOLIDATED PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS
2016 2015
Processed ore (tonnes milled) 671,616 657,617
Silver production (ounces) 2,389,808 2,652,026
Silver-equivalent production (ounces) 4,682,030 4,866,145
Silver grade (grams per tonne) 126 141
Cost of sales ($ per equivalent ounce silver) $9.92 $10.80
Cash costs ($ per ounce silver) $10.00 $12.75
All-in sustaining costs ($ per ounce silver) $12.71 $17.16
Zinc (pounds) 10,488,733 11,647,962
Lead (pounds) 29,067,673 22,905,826
Copper (pounds) 1,058,250 2,054,896
Galena complex production details
The Galena complex produced approximately 1,384,000 ounces of silver and
approximately 2,756,000 silver-equivalent ounces during 2016 at cash
costs of $11.60 per silver ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $15.18
per silver ounce. Silver production decreased 7 per cent compared with 2015, while
silver-equivalent production increased 12 per cent for the same period as a
result of a 43-per-cent increase in lead production. Silver cash costs improved
19 per cent compared with 2015, and AISC also improved 20 per cent for the same period.
The Galena complex had a solid year with performance meeting
expectations, and the company expects the mine to provide consistent,
predictable performance for 2017, similar to that experienced in 2016.
As a result of decisions and actions taken more than a year ago,
producing areas were well balanced across several levels of the mine.
Given the recently improved economic outlook for the asset and
continued drilling and capital development, further areas for
improvement have been identified, including near-term development
opportunities on both the 3200 and 4900 levels of the mine. These
projects promise to add further operational flexibility and consistency
in the future.
GALENA COMPLEX HIGHLIGHTS
2016 2015
Processed ore (tonnes milled) 171,107 151,469
Silver production (ounces) 1,383,689 1,489,736
Silver-equivalent production (ounces) 2,756,331 2,464,841
Grade (grams per tonne) 266 324
Cost of sales ($ per equivalent ounce silver) $10.43 $12.32
Cash costs ($ per ounce silver) $11.60 $14.27
All-in sustaining costs ($ per ounce silver) $15.18 $18.92
Lead (pounds) 24,879,134 17,436,671
Copper (pounds) - 304,753
Cosala operations production details
The Cosala operations produced approximately 1,006,000 ounces of silver
during 2016 and approximately 1,926,000 ounces of silver equivalent
during the same period at cash costs of $7.79 per silver ounce and
all-in sustaining costs of $9.31 per silver ounce. Silver production
decreased 13 per cent compared with 2015, while silver-equivalent production
decreased by 20 per cent. Cash costs per silver ounce improved by 28 per cent compared
with 2015, while AISC improved 37 per cent year over year.
COSALA OPERATIONS HIGHLIGHTS
2016 2015
Processed ore (tonnes milled) 500,509 506,148
Silver production (ounces) 1,006,119 1,162,290
Silver-equivalent production (ounces) 1,925,699 2,401,303
Silver grade (grams per tonne) 78 86
Cost of sales ($ per equivalent ounce silver) $9.19 $9.25
Cash costs ($ per ounce silver) $7.79 $10.80
All-in sustaining costs ($ per ounce silver) $9.31 $14.89
Zinc (pounds) 10,488,773 11,647,962
Lead (pounds) 4,188,539 5,469,155
Copper (pounds) 1,058,250 1,750,143
The Cosala operations made progress on several fronts. Cost containment
efforts continue to lower costs despite lower silver production and
silver-equivalent production than the previous year. At the Nuestra
Senora mine, activities began to slow as preparations were made to
transition to other ore sources. Dewatering is completed, and stope
development continues for El Cajon with production supplementing Nuestra
Senora feed through the first half of 2017. Most importantly for the
company, San Rafael construction began in the third quarter as
previously discussed.
An exploration budget of $2-million has been approved for the Cosala
operations focusing on exciting targets in the San Rafael/El Cajon
corridor and on the San Rafael 120 zone to increase confidence in the
known resource and to expand mineralization to the southeast. This is
the first exploration drilling at the Cosala operations in over four years.
Glencore prepayment facility and concentrate
sales agreements
The company has entered into a low-interest-rate $15-million concentrate prepayment facility with
Metagri SA de CV, a subsidiary of Glencore, to finance
a portion of the development costs for the project. Under the terms of
the facility, Glencore will provide the company with a four-year
facility of up to $15-million to be used for the development of the
project and commercial production of its concentrates. The facility is
secured by a promissory note in the amount of up to $15-million issued
by the company to Glencore and a parent company guarantee. The company
has also entered into four-year offtake agreements with Glencore for the
zinc and lead concentrates produced from the project. Glencore will pay
for the concentrates at prevailing market prices for silver, lead and
zinc, less treatment and refining charges.
"The company is honoured to be entering into this strategic financing
agreement and exclusive offtake agreement with one of the world's
premier metal traders," said Warren Varga, chief financial officer.
"This agreement marks a major milestone for Americas Silver. Glencore's
due diligence on the project and support of the management team
indicates significant approval of the company and its strategic
direction. Furthermore, this low-cost financing recapitalizes its
existing debt and ensures that Americas Silver will have sufficient
capital to further advance operations and continue with its growth
strategy without dilution to shareholders."
The company has changed its resource estimate timing to a cut-off of
June 30 to better support its annual budgeting and
life-of-mine modelling.
Daren Dell, chief operating officer and a qualified person under
Canadian Securities Administrators guidelines, has approved the
applicable contents of this news release.
We seek Safe Harbor.
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