Capstone Mining 2013 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Production Results

2013 production of 113.8 million pounds of copper

VANCOUVER, Jan. 13, 2014 /CNW/ - Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced operating results for the three and twelve month periods ending December 31, 2013 of its three operating mines: Pinto Valley, Cozamin and Minto. Combined production totalled 56.9 and 113.8 million pounds of copper (in concentrates and cathode) in the fourth quarter and full year 2013, respectively, with additional by-products of zinc, molybdenum, lead, silver and gold.

2013 Production (millions of pounds)
		Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	2013
Pinto Valley (for 82 days of ownership)
	Copper in concentrates	-	-	-	29.6	29.6
	Copper cathode	-	-	-	1.4	1.4
	Pinto Valley Total	-	-	-	31.0	31.0
Cozamin
	Copper in concentrates	10.1	12.1	11.6	11.6	45.5
Minto
	Copper in concentrates	8.5	7.2	7.3	14.3	37.2
Total Copper production^(1)		18.6	19.3	18.9	56.9	113.8

Totals may not add due to rounding. (1) Total production includes copper in concentrate and cathode production.

"Capstone met overall 2013 copper production targets, with outperformance at Pinto Valley and Cozamin comfortably offsetting lower production at Minto," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "Pinto Valley performed very well in the fourth quarter and is presently operating very close to the targeted mill throughput rate of 50,000 tonnes per day. Cozamin performed better than plan and the grade increase at Minto made a meaningful contribution to the very strong performance for the quarter."

Operational Highlights

• At Pinto Valley we exceeded our earlier production forecasts as throughput and recoveries trended to targeted sustainable rates through the end of the year.
• Cozamin performed better than expected in the fourth quarter and posted an excellent result for the year. The mine achieved an annual throughput record in 2013 of 3,305 tonnes per day, with grade and recoveries coming in very close to expectations for the quarter and year.
• At Minto, November and December were pivotal months with ore grade increasing to over 2% copper and recoveries at high levels. The mill achieved a monthly throughput production record in December of 4,179 tonnes per day.

Q4 2013 Operating Details
		Pinto Valley		Cozamin		Minto
		Q4 2013 (82 days)	2013	Q4 2013	2013	Q4 2013	2013
Production^(1)(contained in concentrates and cathode)
Copper in concentrate (000s lbs)		29,618	29,618	11,627	45,515	14,268	37,238
Copper cathode (000s lbs)		1,421	1,421	-	-	-	-
Zinc (000s lbs)		-	-	4,161	17,825	-	-
Molybdenum (000s lbs)		14	14	-	-	-	-
Lead (000s lbs)		-	-	277	2,728	-	-
Silver (ounces)		*	*	432,190	1,682,347	66,459	162,310
Gold (ounces)^(2)		-	-	-	-	9,126	18,361
Mine (tonnes)
Ore		4,538,278	4,538,278	315,730	1,208,572	1,186,036	2,012,657
Waste		10,341	10,341	-	-	1,452,071	9,696,301
Mill
Tonnes processed		3,730,240	3,730,240	314,746	1,206,383	359,023	1,402,264
Tonnes processed per day		45,490	45,490	3,421	3,305	3,902	3,842
Copper grade (%)		0.42^(3)	0.42^(3)	1.85	1.86	1.92	1.31
Zinc grade (%)		-	-	1.13	1.12	-	-
Molybdenum grade (%)		0.01	0.01	-	-	-	-
Lead grade (%)		-	-	0.10	0.19	-	-
Silver grade (g/t)		*	*	60.7	61.0	6.90	4.59
Gold grade (g/t)		-	-	-	-	0.98	0.52
Recoveries
Copper (%)		85.0^(3)	85.0^(3)	90.8	92.1	93.9	92.3
Zinc (%)		-	-	53.3	60.1	-	-
Lead (%)		-	-	40.6	54.5	-	-
Silver (%)		*	*	70.3	71.1	83.2	78.5
Gold (%)		-	-	-	-	80.6	78.4
Concentrates^(2)
Copper concentrate (dmt)		50,235	50,235	21,731	81,351	16,663	46,303
	Copper (%)	26.8	26.8	24.3	25.4	38.8	36.5
	Silver (g/t)	*	*	582.0	574.3	124.0	109.0
	Gold (g/t)	-	-	-	-	17.0	12.3
Zinc concentrate (dmt)		-	-	4,028	16,928	-	-
	Zinc (%)	-	-	46.8	47.8	-	-
Molybdenum concentrate (dmt)		14	14	-	-	-	-
Lead concentrate (dmt)		-	-	272	2,205	-	-
	Lead (%)	-	-	46.3	56.1	-	-
	Silver (g/t)	-	-	2,944	2,541	-	-

YTD totals may not add due to rounding. (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 as above. *Silver production at Pinto Valley is not yet available since assays are conducted offsite.  Capstone will commence reporting of Pinto Valley silver starting in 2014. (3) Grade and recoveries were estimated for the fourth quarter based on concentrate production. 

Production Outlook

Capstone will provide 2014 operating and capital guidance for Cozamin, Minto and Development and Exploration activities later this week.  Pinto Valley guidance will follow before the end of the first quarter.

2013 Financial Results Timing

Capstone will report 2013 financial results on Thursday, February 20, 2014 after market close, followed by a conference call and webcast for investors and analysts on Friday, February 21, 2014 at 9:30 am Eastern Time (6:30 am Pacific Time).

Conference Call and Webcast Details

Date:	Friday, February 21, 2014
Time:	9:30 am Eastern Time -- 6:30 am Pacific Time
Dial in:	North America: 1-888-390-0546, International: [phone]
Webcast:	http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/detail/1282857/1415355
Replay:	North America: 1-888-390-0541, International: [phone]
Replay Passcode:	099750

The conference call replay will be available until March 7, 2014. The conference call audio and transcript will be available on Capstone's website within approximately 24 hours of the call at http://capstonemining.com/s/conference-calls.asp.

About Capstone Mining Corp.

Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. We are focused on copper, with three producing mines; the Pinto Valley copper-molybdenum mine located in Arizona, US, the Cozamin copper-silver-zinc-lead mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto copper-gold-silver mine in Yukon, Canada. In addition, Capstone has two development projects; the large scale 70% owned Santo Domingo copper-iron-gold project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, and the 100% owned Kutcho copper-zinc-gold-silver project in British Columbia, Canada, as well as exploration properties in Canada, Chile and Mexico. 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.

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 "scheduled", "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; 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.

 

SOURCE: Capstone Mining Corp.

Cindy Burnett, VP, Investor Relations and Communications
604-637-8157
[email protected]