VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April
26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atico Mining Corporation (the
"Company" or "Atico") (TSX-V:ATY) (OTC:ATCMF) announces its
operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 from
its El Roble mine. Production for the quarter totaled 5.48 million
pounds of copper and 2,825 ounces of gold in concentrates, an
increase of 9% and 11% for copper and gold, respectively, over the
same period in 2017.
"We are very pleased to report our
strongest operating quarter to date while maintaining steady state
production levels and a robust start towards our 2018 operational
objectives" said Fernando E. Ganoza, CEO. "For the remainder of the
year, the Company will continue focusing on the regional and mine
vicinity exploration programs with rigs currently drilling on
surface and underground."
First Quarter Operational Highlights
- Production of 5.48 million pounds of copper
contained in concentrates; an increase of 9% over Q1 2017.
- Production of 2,825 ounces of gold contained in
concentrates; an increase of 11% over Q1 2017.
- Average processed tonnes per day of 812, no
significant change over Q1 2017.
- Copper head grade of 3.80%, a decrease of 2% over
Q1 2017.
- Gold head grade of 2.03 grams per tonne; an
increase of 6% over Q1 2017.
- Copper and gold recovery of 94.0% and 62.8%; no
significant change for copper and a decrease of 5% for gold over Q1
2017.
First Quarter Operational Review
Processed ore was ahead of Company
budget for the first quarter. The increase in higher copper and
gold output for the quarter relative to Q1 2017 is mostly explained
by an 11% increase in processed ore. Copper recoveries maintained
their highs and slightly improved when compared to the same period
last year, while gold recoveries during the quarter were in line
with Company projections. Gold recovery decrease is due to an
increase in the copper content in the concentrate, this increase in
the copper content in the concentrate provides a net economic
benefit offsetting the decrease in gold recovery. The Company will
continue to explore improving the copper content in the concentrate
in the following quarters while increasing the gold
recovery.
During the quarter the Company
delivered only one concentrate shipment due to lack of vessel
availability, this resulted in a significantly higher than usual
concentrate ending inventory going into the second quarter.
The operation remains on track to
deliver on set guidance throughout the remainder of the year.
First Quarter Operational Details
|
Q1 2018 Total |
|
Q1 2017 Total |
|
% Change |
|
Production (Contained
in Concentrates) |
|
|
|
|
|
Copper (000s pounds) |
5,476 |
|
5,046 |
|
9 |
% |
Gold (ounces) |
2,825 |
|
2,550 |
|
11 |
% |
Mine |
|
|
|
|
|
Tonnes of ore mined |
67,022 |
|
63,468 |
|
6 |
% |
Mill |
|
|
|
|
|
Tonnes processed |
69,499 |
|
62,885 |
|
11 |
% |
Tonnes processed per day |
812 |
|
810 |
|
Nil |
% |
Copper grade (%) |
3.80 |
|
3.89 |
|
-2 |
% |
Gold grade (g/t) |
2.03 |
|
1.92 |
|
6 |
% |
Recoveries |
|
|
|
|
|
Copper (%) |
94.0 |
|
93.5 |
|
1 |
% |
Gold (%) |
62.8 |
|
65.8 |
|
-5 |
% |
Concentrates |
|
|
|
|
|
Copper and Gold Concentrates (dmt) |
11,474 |
|
10,566 |
|
9 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Payable copper produced (000s lbs) |
5,202 |
|
4,790 |
|
9 |
% |
Note: Metal
production figures are subject to adjustments based on final
settlement.
2018 Operational Guidance
The Company is basing 2018
guidance on year ended December 31, 2017 financial and production
results. Please refer to Cautionary Note on Forward Looking
Statements at the end of this document.
The Company set the following
objectives for 2018 at the El Roble mine:
- Process between 270,000 and 275,000 tonnes, an
increase of 5% to 7.5% over 2017.
- Maintain copper recovery above 93% and 62% for
gold.
- Maintain an average copper head grade between
3.5% and 3.7%
- Maintain an average gold head grade between 1.8
g/t and 2.0 g/t
- Increase production between 40,000 and 42,000 dry
tonnes of concentrate.
- Maintain production between 9,000 and 9,400
tonnes of copper.
- Maintain production between 9,700 and 10,000
ounces of gold.
- Increase the mill mechanical availability to 95%
and reach 330 days worked.
- Continue increasing the safety and environmental
standards.
El Roble Mine
The El Roble mine is a high grade,
underground copper and gold mine with nominal processing plant
capacity of 800 tonnes per day, located in the Department of Choco
in Colombia. Its commercial product is a copper-gold
concentrate.
Since obtaining control of the
mine on November 22, 2013, Atico has upgraded the operation from a
historical nominal capacity of 400 tonnes per day.
El Roble has a measured and
indicated resource of 1.87 million tonnes grading 3.46% copper and
2.27 g/t gold, at a cut-off grade of 0.93% copper equivalent.
Mineralization is open at depth and along strike and the Company
plans to further test the limits of the resource.
On the larger land package, the
Company has identified a prospective stratigraphic contact between
volcanic rocks and black and grey pelagic sediments and cherts that
has been traced by Atico geologists for ten kilometers. This
contact has been determined to be an important control on VMS
mineralization on which Atico has identified numerous target areas
prospective for VMS type mineralization occurrence, which is the
focus of the current surface drill program at El Roble.
Qualified
Person
Mr. Thomas Kelly (SME Registered
Member 1696580), advisor to the Company and a qualified person
under National Instrument 43-101 standards, is responsible for
ensuring that the technical information contained in this news
release is an accurate summary of the original reports and data
provided to or developed by Atico.
About
Atico Mining Corporation
Atico is a growth-oriented
Company, focused on exploring, developing and mining copper and
gold projects in Latin America. The Company operates the El Roble
mine and is pursuing additional acquisition opportunities. For more
information, please visit www.aticomining.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Fernando E. Ganoza
CEO
Atico Mining Corporation
Trading symbols: TSX.V: ATY | OTC:
ATCMF
Investor Relations
Igor Dutina
Tel: +1.604.633.9022
Neither the TSX
Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term
is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
No securities
regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the
contents of this news release. The securities being offered have
not been, and will not be, registered under the United States
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the ''U.S. Securities Act''),
or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the
United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, a "U.S.
person" (as defined in Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act)
unless pursuant to an exemption therefrom. This press release is
for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to
sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the
Company in any jurisdiction.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking
Statements
This
announcement includes certain "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements,
other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without
limitation the use of net proceeds, are forward-looking statements.
Forward- looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties
and are based on certain factors and assumptions. There can be no
assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and
actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations
include uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results
and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits;
uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs; the need
to obtain additional financing to maintain its interest in and/or
explore and develop the Company's mineral projects; uncertainty of
meeting anticipated program milestones for the Company's mineral
projects; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the
heading "Risk Factors" in the prospectus of the Company dated March
2, 2012 filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities
on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com
The Company has
not based its production decisions and ongoing mine production on
mineral reserve estimates, preliminary economic assessments or
feasibility studies, and historically such projects have increased
uncertainty and risk of failure. Mineral resources that are not
mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic
viability.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The items marked
with a "(1)" are alternative performance measures and readers
should refer to Non-GAAP Financial Measures in the Company's
Management's Discussion and Analysis for the nine months ended
September 30, 2016 as filed on SEDAR and as available on the
Company's website for further details.
This
announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Atico Mining Corporation via Globenewswire
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