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Capstone Mining (TSX:CS) reported its operating results for the three and six months ended June 30. All in all, combined production came in at 21,100 and 44,800 tonnes of copper for Q2 and year to date respectively.
Capstone Mining (TSX:CS) reported its operating results for the three and six months ended June 30. All in all, combined production came in at 21,100 and 44,800 tonnes of copper for Q2 and year to date respectively.
As quoted in the press release, operational highlights included:
- At Pinto Valley, mill throughput improved 7% over the first quarter with successive month-over-month improvement throughout the second quarter and averaging over 50,000 tonnes per day (“tpd”) so far in July. The asset improvement plan is on track, with the various tasks ranging from 65% to 85% complete and operational reliability is increasing. Throughput for June surpassed 52,000 tpd for one-third of the days and was over 50,000 tpd for half of the days in June, with the mill posting an all-time daily high in excess of 58,000 tpd. Production remains on plan with better than predicted block grades continuing in the second quarter. The 2015 mine plan calls for the second and third quarters to be the lowest grade quarters of the year.
- At Cozamin, grade, throughput and recoveries were all lower than planned for the quarter. While progress was made on improving development performance and increasing long-hole inventory, the mine continues to work through changes made to our mining procedures and the need to adapt practices to increased ore production from the footwall zone. Practices are being refined, most particularly related to grade control, but Cozamin is not expected to reach its production guidance for 2015.
- At Minto, production continued above plan in the second quarter and as a result Minto is expected to exceed its 2015 production guidance. Ore from Area 118 underground continued to run significantly above model grades and enhanced mining practices resulted in lower dilution than budgeted. Further unplanned ore production came from the Area 2 Stage 2 pit above the water storage level. The Yukon Water Board issued a draft Water Use Licence on May 29, 2015 and is now in the process of issuing the final licence. We continue to process underground and stockpiled ore, while we await receipt of the final licence.
Capstone president and CEO, Darren Pylot, said:
We are pleased to report good results from our operational improvements at Pinto Valley with respect to mill reliability, and we approached our targeted run rate by the end of the second quarter. In total, second quarter production met our expectations, which called for lower grade at Pinto Valley. Improving performance at Pinto Valley and strong results from Minto offset the production short-fall at Cozamin.