Capstone 2012 Third Quarter Production Results On Track

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, October 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Year-to-date production of 63.1 million pounds of copper in concentrates

Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone") (TSX: CS) today announced its operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 for its two operating mines, Cozamin and Minto. Combined production totalled 22.6 and 63.1 million pounds of copper in concentrates in the third quarter and first nine months, respectively, with additional by-products of lead, zinc, silver and gold.

    Q3 2012 Production
                              Q1 2012   Q2 2012   Q3 2012   YTD 2012
    Copper in concentrates
    (millions of pounds) 
    Cozamin                      13.0      12.1      11.0       36.1
    Minto                         5.6       9.8      11.6       27.0
    Total                        18.6      21.9      22.6       63.1
 

"Both mines continued to operate according to plan in the third quarter," said Darren Pylot, President and CEO of Capstone. "Operations are currently stable, so our expectation is that we will meet our 2012 production guidance of 80 million pounds of copper in concentrates."

Operational highlights for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012

• Production of 22.6 and 63.1 million pounds of copper contained in concentrates, respectively.
• By-product production of 4.1 and 12.9 million pounds of zinc, 0.5 and 2.4 million pounds of lead and 431,760 and 1,344,291 ounces of silver in concentrates, respectively. Final gold production is not available since assaying is conducted off-site, but is estimated at 6,513 and 11,815 ounces for the respective periods.
• At Cozamin, recoveries remained consistent; however tonnage and copper grade were down due to the planned transitioning to the outer lower grade edges of stopes. Grades in the fourth quarter are expected to average 1.7%.
• At Minto, throughput averaged 3,874 tonnes per day, with grades and recoveries above second quarter levels. Grade is expected to decrease in the fourth quarter to 1.4%. This is lower than originally expected as a result of an unplanned pushback that is necessary to improve the stability of the west pit highwall which will impact the fourth-quarter mine plan. The pushback is within the ultimate pit design, so the overall strip ratio is not expected to change for the Area 2 Pit.
• On September 24, 2012, the Yukon Water Board issued a draft amendment to Minto's Water Use License which allows for tailings deposition in the mined out Main Pit. This draft is now with the Minister awaiting signature. Final approval is expected during October, resulting in cost savings of approximately C$5.00 per tonne of ore milled.

Q3 Operating Details

 
                                                Cozamin               Minto
                                          Q3 2012   YTD 2012    Q3 2012  YTD 2012
    Production [(1)]
    (contained in concentrates)
              - Copper (000s pounds)       11,010     36,134     11,554    26,956
              - Lead (000s pounds)            550      2,368          -         -
              - Zinc (000s pounds)          4,139     12,876          -         -
              - Silver (ounces)           369,562  1,203,356     62,196   140,935
              - Gold (ounces)                   -          -      6,513    11,815
    Mine
              - Tonnes of ore mined       283,833    884,824    332,134   709,192
    Mill
              - Tonnes processed          285,999    887,487    356,414 1,029,259
              - Tonnes processed per day    3,109      3,239      3,874     3,756
              - Copper grade (%)             1.88       1.99        1.6      1.32
              - Lead grade (%)               0.17       0.21          -         -
              - Zinc grade (%)               1.01       1.01          -         -
              - Silver grade (g/t)           56.7       59.2        6.2       5.1
              - Gold grade (g/t)                -          -       0.64      0.52
    Recoveries
              - Copper (%)                   92.9         93       92.1      90.3
              - Lead (%)                     52.2       58.1          -         -
              - Zinc (%)                     65.2       65.2          -         -
              - Silver (%)                   70.9       71.3       87.5      84.1
              - Gold (%)                        -          -       70.9      68.6
    Concentrates [ (1)]
              - Copper concentrate (dmt)   19,072     62,326     13,706    32,862
                            Copper (%)       26.2       26.3       38.2      37.2
                            Silver (g/t)      550        536        141       133
                            Gold (g/t)          -          -       14.8      11.2
              - Lead concentrate (dmt)        434      1,800          -         -
                            Lead (%)         57.4       59.7          -         -
                            Silver (g/t)    2,327      2,239          -         -
              - Zinc concentrate (dmt)      3,925     11,939          -         -
                            Zinc (%)         47.8       48.9          -         -

(1) Adjustments based on final settlements will be made in future periods.

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