Mr. Darren Pylot reports
CAPSTONE 2012 FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR PRODUCTION RESULTS MEET GUIDANCE; 2012 PRODUCTION OF 82.8 MILLION POUNDS OF COPPER IN CONCENTRATES
Capstone Mining Corp. has released operating results for the three and 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2012, of its two operating mines, Cozamin and Minto. Combined production totalled 19.7 million and 82.8 million pounds of copper in concentrates in the fourth quarter and full year 2012, respectively, with additional byproducts of zinc, silver, gold and lead.
2012 PRODUCTION
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2012
Copper in concentrates
(millions of pounds)
Cozamin 13.0 12.1 11.0 10.8 46.9
Minto 5.6 9.8 11.6 8.9 35.9
---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Total 18.6 21.9 22.6 19.7 82.8
---- ---- ---- ---- ----
"We achieved our 2012 production guidance of 80 million pounds plus or minus 5 per cent of copper, with both mines performing as anticipated in the fourth quarter," said Darren Pylot, president and chief executive officer of Capstone. "The flexibility of having two operating mines allowed Cozamin's strong performance to more than compensate for the shortfall experienced at Minto during 2012."
Operational highlights for the three and 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2012:
- Production was 19.7 million and 82.8 million pounds of copper contained in concentrates, respectively.
- Byproduct production was 4.3 million and 17.2 million pounds of zinc, 415,060 and 1,759,352 ounces of silver, and 500,000 and 2.9 million pounds of lead in concentrates, respectively. Final gold production is not available since assaying is conducted off site, but is estimated at 6,785 and 18,599 ounces for the respective periods.
- Cozamin remained a very steady producer. Over the past two years recoveries have consistently exceeded 92 per cent, with throughput increasing from an average of 3,000 tonnes per day in 2011 to 3,200 tonnes per day in 2012. Despite copper grades trending down toward the reserve grade over time, continued exploration success has brought high-grade ore from the Mala Noche footwall zone into production and extended the current mine life (before inclusion of 2012 drilling) to nine years. Grades in the fourth quarter were above the guided 1.7 per cent copper, driven by the ability to selectively mine high-grade blocks in the West zone.
- At Minto, 2011 and 2012 were transitional years as mining progressed into the area 2 pit. Throughput has steadily increased at the mill, with 2012 throughput of 1.34 million tonnes up 7 per cent from 2011. In December, regulatory approval was received to provide the flexibility to further increase the milling rate up to 1.5 million tonnes per year. Grades in the fourth quarter were at the expected 1.4 per cent copper, and considered the plan changes due to highwall instability, which resulted in processing much more low-grade stockpile materials than long-term plans had anticipated. The previously announced accelerated pushback that was necessary to improve the stability of the west pit highwall continued throughout the fourth quarter. Mining in the area 2 pit resumed in late December and the company is working toward achieving the 2013 plan.
OPERATING DETAILS
Cozamin Minto Total
Total
Q4 2012 2012 Q4 2012 Total 2012 Q4 2012 Total 2012
Production [1]
(contained in
concentrates)
Copper (000s pounds) 10,776 46,909 8,971 35,928 19,747 82,838
Zinc (000s pounds) 4,345 17,221 - - 4,345 17,221
Lead (000s pounds) 524 2,891 - - 524 2,891
Silver (ounces) 372,460 1,575,816 42,600 183,536 415,060 1,759,352
Gold (ounces) - - 6,785 18,599[2] 6,785 18,599[2]
Mine
Tonnes of ore mined 285,766 1,170,590 233,547 942,739 519,313 2,113,329
Mill
Tonnes processed 285,415 1,172,902 312,325 1,341,584 597,740 2,514,486
Tonnes processed per
day 3,102 3,205 3,395 3,666 6,497 6,870
Copper grade (%) 1.85 1.95 1.43 1.34 1.63 1.63
Zinc grade (%) 1.08 1.03 - -
Lead grade (%) 0.18 0.20 - -
Silver grade (g/t) 57.9 58.9 5.0 5.1 30.3 30.2
Gold grade (g/t) - - 0.79 0.58
Recoveries
Copper (%) 92.8 93.0 91.3 90.5 92.0 91.6
Zinc (%) 64.0 64.9 - -
Lead (%) 47.2 55.8 - -
Silver (%) 70.1 71.0 84.1 84.1 71.3 72.1
Gold (%) - - 85.8 74.0
Concentrates [1]
Copper concentrate
(dmt) 18,980 81,305 10,561 43,423 29,541 124,727
Copper (%) 25.8 26.2 38.5 37.5 30.3 30.1
Silver (g/t) 551 540 125.5 131.5 399.1 397.5
Gold (g/t) - - 19.7 13.3
Zinc concentrate (dmt) 4,118 16,057 - - 4,118 16,057
Zinc (%) 47.9 48.6 - -
Lead concentrate (dmt) 415 2,216 - - 415 2,216
Lead (%) 57.2 59.2 - -
Silver (g/t) 2,696 2,324 - -
(1) Adjustments based on final settlements will be made in future periods.
(2) Full-year 2012 gold production includes an upward adjustment for higher assays
not reported in the third quarter.
2012 year-end financial results timing
Capstone will report 2012 year-end financial results on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, after market close, followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and analysts on Thursday, March 14, 2013, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time (8:30 a.m. Pacific Time).
Conference call and webcast details:
- Date: Thursday, March 14, 2013;
-
Time: 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time/8:30 a.m. Pacific Time;
-
Dial-in: North America: 1-888-390-0605; international: 1-416-764-8609;
- Replay: North America: 1-888-390-0541; international: 1-416-764-8677;
-
Replay passcode: 017456.
The conference call replay will be available until March 28, 2013. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within approximately 24 hours of the call.
The disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by John Wright, PEng, Capstone's business development manager, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101. In addition, Gregg Bush, senior vice-president and chief operating officer for Capstone, reviewed all technical information in this news release.
We seek Safe Harbor.