VANCOUVER, July 14 /CNW/ - Scorpio Mining Corporation (TSX:SPM) is
pleased to provide an operations update for June 2009 for the 100% owned
Nuestra Senora mine, Sinaloa State, Mexico.
Peter J. Hawley, Chairman, CEO reports, "June 2009 was another strong
month ending the second quarter of commercial production with approximately
55,000 contained ounces of pure silver produced. The company continues to be
cost-efficient with Mexican cash operating costs(1) for mining, milling and
administration being US$47.86 per tonne versus budgeted of US$46.51 per tonne.
The increase in cost per tonne is related to one time items, which included
purchase of additional balls for the mill not included in the budget,
underground equipment repair, major overhaul on the cone crushing unit and
extra mine night shifts in order to fill stopes with waste for the second
mining lifts in various stopes. Now that these items have been addressed, the
Company expects the July costs to drop below the budgeted amounts."
The Nuestra Senora operational details for the month of June are as
follows:June 2009 Concentrate Synopsis
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2009 Contained
Concentrate Shipped June Silver Ounces
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Lead Concentrate (tonnes) 214 21,838
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Zinc Concentrate (tonnes) 596 2,932
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Copper Concentrate (tonnes) 156 17,971
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Total 966 tonnes 42,741 ounces
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Concentrate Inventory at 2009 Contained
Month End June Silver Ounces
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Lead Concentrate (tonnes) 143 13,954
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Zinc Concentrate (tonnes) 28 99
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Copper Concentrate (tonnes) 75 10,265
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Total 246 tonnes 24,318 ounces
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Concentrate Produced During the 2009 Contained
20 Days of June Operations June Silver Ounces
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Calculated Lead Concentrate (tonnes) 368 34,800
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Calculated Zinc Concentrate (tonnes) 575 2,859
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Calculated Copper
Concentrate (tonnes) 163 17,310
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Total 1,106 tonnes 54,969 ounces
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2009 2009
Total Tonnes Mined & Milled June Budget
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Tonnes Mined 10,722 9,720
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Tonnes Milled 14,960 12,000
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Days Milling 20 17
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2009 2009
Average Mill Recoveries June Budget
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Silver (%) 88.1% 89.0%
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Lead (%) 73.3% 80.0%
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Copper (%) 54.0% 50.0%
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Zinc (%) 76.0% 79.0%
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June 2009 Update
- Underground development for the month of June stands at 168.3 metres;
ore tonnage mined was 10,722 tonnes in the cut & fill stopes and ore
moved to the mill was 10,415 tonnes.
- Mexican cash operating costs(1) for mining, milling and
administration for June 2009, were US$47.86 per tonne (budgeted US
$46.51 per tonne).
- Mill throughput in June reached 14,960 tonnes (budgeted 12,000
tonnes) for the 20 days of milling, or 748 tonnes per day.
- Recoveries at the mill were 88.1% for silver (89.0% budgeted), 73.3%
for lead (80.0% budgeted), 54.0% for copper (50.0% budgeted) and
76.0% for zinc (79.0% budgeted). Lower recoveries were due to the
rain season beginning thus the mill fine grind had to be increased
from 3/8 inch to 3/4 inch to prevent clogging. The grinding has been
modified with respect to grind size and recoveries have improved
after modifications.
- High-grade mine ore processed totalled 13,378 tonnes and was mixed at
a 9:1 ratio with lower-grade development ore. At month end, total
stockpiled ore was 42,647 tonnes including 35,714 tonnes of
development ore in stockpile No. 1 and 6,933 tonnes of high-grade ore
in stockpile No. 2.
- A total of 56,969 ounces of silver were recovered for the month in
addition to lead, zinc and copper credits.
- A total of 42,741 ounces of silver were shipped / sold for the month
in addition to lead, zinc, and copper credits.
- Under the existing off-take contract in effect until October 2009,
the Company shipped 156 tonnes of copper concentrates and 596 tonnes
of zinc concentrates to the loading facility in Manzanillo, México.
It also delivered 214 tonnes of lead concentrate to the Penoles
Smelter facility in Torreon, México under its current 2008 smelter
contract, which expired June 30th, 2008. A new and more favourable
off-take contract with Penoles came into effect on July 1st, 2009.
- The Company continues to aggressively look at near term development
and or operating mining assets located in Mexico for potential
acquisitions.
Further information is available on the Company's web site at:
www.scorpiomining.com.
President, Mr. D. Roger Scammell, PGeo, is the Company's Qualified Person
for the Nuestra Senora project and has reviewed the content of this release.
ON BEHALF OF SCORPIO MINING CORPORATION
Peter J. Hawley
Chairman & CEO
(1) Cash operating costs per tonne is a non GAAP measure. The Company
believes that, in addition to cost of sales, cash operating costs per
tonne is a useful and complementary benchmark for performance and is
well understood and widely reported in the silver mining industry.
However, cash operating costs per tonne does not have a standardized
meaning prescribed by Canadian GAAP. Investors are cautioned that
cash operating costs per tonne should not be construed as an
alternative to cost of sales determined in accordance with Canadian
GAAP as an indicator of performance. The Company's method of
calculating cash costs per tonne may differ from the methods used by
other entities and, accordingly, the Company's cash operating costs
per tonne may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by
other entities. Cash operating costs per tonne is calculated as the
cost of sales adjusted for change in inventories.This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities
legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements with respect to concentrate shipments, acquisition plans and
Scorpio Mining Corporation's commitment to, and plans for developing the
Nuestra Senora Project. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be
identified by the forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or
"does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"projects", "intends", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate", or "believes",
or "variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events
or results "may", "can", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken",
"occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual
results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Scorpio Mining
Corporation to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the
exploration and development and operation of the Nuestra Senora Project, risks
related to international operations, the actual results of current
exploration, development and operation activities, conclusions of economic
evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined,
future prices of silver, zinc, copper, lead and gold, as well as those factors
discussed in the sections relating to risk factors of our business filed in
Scorpio Mining Corporation's required securities filings on SEDAR, including
its Annual Information Form dated March 27, 2009. Although Scorpio Mining
Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause
results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking
statements, there may be other factors that cause results to be materially
different from those anticipated, described, estimated, assessed or intended.
There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements will prove
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. Scorpio Mining Corporation does
not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are incorporated
by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
For further information: Rich Kaiser, YES International: 1-800-631-8127,
001-757-306-6090 (outside North America), Email: yes@yesinternational.com
