VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Capstone Mining Corp. (“Capstone” or the “Company”) (TSX:CS) today announced production and financial results for the three (“Q3 2021”) and nine months (“2021 YTD”) ended September 30, 2021. Consolidated copper production totaled 44.4 million pounds at C1 cash costs1 of $1.96 per payable pound of copper produced. Link HERE for Capstone’s Q3 2021 management’s discussion and analysis (“MD&A”) and financial statements and HERE for the webcast presentation.
Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone commented, “This year Pinto Valley Mine and the communities nearby have faced wildfires and floods and I’m proud of Capstone’s contribution in emergency relief efforts that made a real difference. Despite extreme conditions the Mine is still on track to meet annual guidance which is a testament to the leadership and overall talent at Pinto Valley, enabled by the optimization investments we have made over the past few years. Capstone is committed to climate change action to build resilient operations and stronger communities. Our ESG Strategy and Responsible Sourcing Project will be key to achieve long-term sustainability and I look forward to unveiling them in 2022.”
Brad Mercer, SVP & COO added, “Severe floods in July & August in Arizona resulted from heavy rains on terrain burned clean by wildfires just weeks prior. While the first half of the quarter saw significantly reduced mining and milling rates due to the extreme wet conditions, from September to present the operation has averaged over 60,000 tonnes per day throughput boosted by the completion of our PV3 Optimization project”. Mr. Mercer continued, “Once again I’m very pleased with our Cozamin Mine performance. We exceeded guidance by delivering low cost, record production that distinguishes this operation as a first quartile asset.”
OPERATIONAL & FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
- Cash and short-term investments grew by $36.7 million to $208.2 million during the three months ending September 30, 2021. The Company's total available liquidity1 was $433.2 million with nil long-term debt. The balance sheet was enhanced by continued strong operating cash flow generation during Q3 2021.
- Operating cash flow before changes in working capital1 of $67.1 million in Q3 2021 driven by strong revenue in a plus $4 copper environment. Operating cash flow and earnings were negatively impacted by $10.0 million of realized loss on provisional price adjustments plus lag in sales timing of 3.3 million pounds of copper, impact of approximately $6 million after-tax during the quarter.
- Net income of $35.0 million, or $0.09 per share for Q3 2021. Adjusted net income1 of $35.3 million or $0.09 per share.
- Adjusted EBITDA1 for Q3 2021 of $72.3 million and 2021 YTD of $318.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA1 is reflective of Capstone’s strong operational performance and financial leverage of the Company’s EBITDA1 in a robust copper price environment.
- Consolidated copper production of 44.4 million pounds at C1 cash costs1 of $1.96 per payable pound of copper produced. Consolidated copper production for 2021 YTD of 135.5 million pounds at C1 cash costs1 of $1.85 per payable pound of copper produced are on track with 2021 guidance.
- Cozamin Mine achieved another record quarterly copper production of 14.1 million pounds at $0.93 per payable pound of copper produced and attained targeted new run rate of 3,854 tpd. Q3 2021 production was 33% higher than in Q3 2020 following commissioning of the Calicanto one-way ramp in Q1 2021.
- Pinto Valley Mine quarterly production and C1 cash costs1 were negatively impacted by an estimated 10% to 30.3 million pounds at $2.44 per payable pound produced by heavy monsoon rains in July and August causing lower mining and milling rates. While the first half of the quarter saw extreme wet conditions, from September to present the Operation has averaged over 60,000 tonnes per day ("tpd") upon completion of the PV3 optimization work.
- There remains strong interest in Santo Domingo and discussions are advancing well. The Santo Domingo project is a very attractive project and it retains a Decree Law 600 (“DL 600”) Tax Invariability Agreement which is expected to protect the project from any potential mining royalty tax changes for the majority of the current mineral reserve.
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