Coeur's La Preciosa Project PEA Indicates 17-Year Initial Mine Life; Average Annual Silver Production of 9.1 Million Ounces over the First 14 Years
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Coeur Mining, Inc. (the 'Company? or 'Coeur?)(NYSE: CDE, TSX:
CDM) announced results from a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for
its wholly-owned La Preciosa silver-gold project located in Durango
state, Mexico. The PEA indicates an initial estimated mine life of 17
years recovering an estimated 134.5 million ounces of silver and
generating a 17% after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) using price
assumptions of $25 per silver ounce and $1,500 per gold ounce.
Over the first 14 years of production, La Preciosa is expected to
produce an average 9.1 million ounces of silver per year at anticipated
average cash operating costs1 of $13.86 per silver ounce, and
is expected to average approximately $93 million in operating cash flow1
per year. At forecast production rates, La Preciosa would be one of the
top 10 primary silver mines in the world. The references herein are in
U.S. dollars and U.S. customary units.
Table 1: PEA (Base Case) Highlights and Assumptions
? | Preliminary Economic | |
? | Assessment | |
Silver/gold price assumptions | $25/$1,500 | |
Initial capital expenditures | $348 million | |
Strip ratio | 10.6:1 | |
Estimated initial mine life | 17 years | |
Average daily processing rate | ~11,000 tons per day | |
Years 1-14 average grade | 2.65 ounces silver per ton | |
Total silver ounces recovered (% of current resource) | 73% of 184 million ounces | |
Years 1-14 average annual silver production | 9.1 million ounces | |
Years 1-14 average annual cash operating cost per ounce1 | $13.86 | |
Years 1-14 average annual operating cash flow1 | $93 million | |
After-tax IRR | 17% | |
After-tax NPV (5% discount) | $314 million | |
? |
Mitchell J. Krebs, Coeur's President and Chief Executive Officer, said,
'The results of this initial PEA demonstrate the viability of the La
Preciosa open pit project at higher silver and gold prices and provide a
solid foundation from which we believe we will enhance the project's
economics over time. Subject to Board authorization, the Company intends
to proceed with a feasibility study, which is expected to be completed
in mid-2014. Upon completion of the feasibility study, the Company and
its Board will evaluate the economics of the project, assess the silver
market and determine whether to proceed with construction.?
Mr. Krebs commented, 'Over the next 12 months, we will pursue an
exploration and infill drilling program focused on expanding the
deposit, upgrading inferred mineral resources and drilling on several of
the smaller veins and mineralized intercepts which fall within the
designed pits to increase confidence levels, evaluate mineability and
determine whether they can be incorporated into future mine plans.
'La Preciosa is located in mining-friendly Mexico, just 45 minutes from
the city of Durango, with many local mines and a readily available
workforce. It has easy access to power and transportation and we believe
we now have the water supply necessary to support future mining
activities.?
La Preciosa PEA Highlights and Assumptions
Measured and indicated resources of 57.2 million tons containing 146.2
million silver ounces and 277,700 gold ounces, and inferred resources
of 19.5 million tons containing 37.7 million silver ounces and 60,300
gold ounces at June 26, 2013. (Please refer to the Appendix Table for
related grades for the updated mineral resource estimate.)
Expected average recovery rates of 86% for silver and 82% for gold at
a throughput rate of 11,023 tons per day (10,000 tonnes per day) for
average annual production of 9.1 million silver ounces and 15,100 gold
ounces over the initial 14 years of mine life.
Coeur's open pit mine plan estimates production of 59.1 million tons
at average grades of 2.40 ounces of silver per ton and 0.004 ounce of
gold per ton. The project envisions surface mine operation for the
first 14 years and continued operation of the processing plant from
stockpiled lower-grade ore for the final three years.
Capital expenditures are estimated to be $347.9 million for commercial
start-up and an additional $84.2 million of sustaining capital over
the initial estimated 17-year mine life.
After-tax IRR of 17% and a NPV of $314 million at a base case using a
5% discount rate, $25 per ounce silver price and $1,500 per ounce gold
price, represents a payback period of 5.3 years.
Located in a mining-friendly jurisdiction with infrastructure in
place, including anticipated access to power and transportation and
available water supply.
The La Preciosa PEA demonstrates leverage to a rising silver price as
shown in the Economic Sensitivity Analysis below.
Table 2: Economic Sensitivity Analysis - After-tax IRR, NPV and
Payback Period
(Base case at $25 silver price is shown in bold below.)
Silver Price | ? | ? | ? | NPV @ 5% | ? | ? | ? | NPV @ 10% | ? | ? | ? | IRR % | ? | ? | ? | Payback | |||||||
? | ? | ? | ? | (millions) | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | (years) | |||||||||||
$ | 33 | $ | 796.6 | $ | 471.4 | 34.3 | % | 2.5 | |||||||||||||||
$ | 31 | $ | 672.9 | $ | 384.2 | 29.9 | % | 2.9 | |||||||||||||||
$ | 28 | $ | 487.2 | $ | 253.3 | 23.2 | % | 3.6 | |||||||||||||||
$ | 25 | $ | 314.1 | $ | 130.1 | 16.8 | % | 5.3 | |||||||||||||||
$ | 23 | $ | 177.1 | $ | 32.3 | 11.7 | % | 9.6 | |||||||||||||||
$ | 21 | $ | 31.6 | $ | (71.4 | ) | 6.2 | % | 11.5 | ||||||||||||||
$ | 19 | $ | (124.6 | ) | $ | (183.2 | ) | 0.1 | % | 14.5 | |||||||||||||
? |
Capital Expenditures
Estimated capital expenditures are shown in the table below. Mobile
mining equipment valued at $84 million is assumed to be leased and is
not included in the estimated capital expenditures. The cost of leasing
is $2.88 per ton ore processed and is included in operating costs.
Sustaining capital expenditures are estimated to total $84.2 million
over the initial 17-year mine life. The Company used a high level of
design and engineering rigor for this PEA-level study with more than 50%
of the capital equipment estimates supported by current price quotations.
Table 3: Capital Expenditures
Mine capital and pre-strip | ? | $ | 22.1 |
Process plant | $ | 218.4 | |
Other infrastructure | $ | 26.4 | |
Contingency | $ | 49.0 | |
Coeur (owner's cost) | $ | 32.0 | |
Total start-up capital expenditures | $ | 347.9 | |
Total sustaining capital expenditures | $ | 84.2 | |
? |
Mining and Processing
The PEA envisions using hydraulic shovels, loaders and a fleet of
195-ton haul trucks for the open pit operations. The processing plant
incorporates an 11,000 ton per day mill with agitated leach, counter
current decantation clarification and a Merrill-Crowe plant to produce
silver-gold dor?.
Table 4: Cost Parameters
PEA Production Cost Assumptions | |||
Average mine costs | ? | ? | $1.38/ton material mined |
? | ? | ||
Total mining cost | $16.25/ton ore processed | ||
Equipment lease cost | $2.88/ton ore processed | ||
Processing costs | $13.04/ton ore processed | ||
Site G&A | $1.59/ton ore processed | ||
Treatment, refining, transportation | $0.60/ton ore processed | ||
Total operating cost | $34.36/ton ore processed | ||
? |
Opportunities for Optimization
Recommendations in the PEA for cost saving opportunities range from
optimizing the mine design and conducting infill and exploration
drilling to expanding reserves and optimizing metallurgical recoveries.
Coeur also expects to further evaluate in-pit waste disposal sites,
grinding, power consumption and the tailings storage method.
Feasibility Study Phase
The feasibility study phase will focus primarily on the open pit mine
optimization and metallurgical testing to maximize plant operating
efficiency and recoveries. Geomechanical studies will evaluate rock
strength and fracture characteristics to provide information for slope
design. The evaluation will also include tradeoff analyses comparing dry
stack versus conventional tailing storage, tailing locations, and
alternate cyanide destruction methods. The feasibility study will also
investigate the potential to supplement or extend mine production
through the inclusion of underground mining of resources that lie beyond
the boundary of the currently designed surface pit.
In parallel with the feasibility process, Coeur will complete baseline
environmental work and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement as a
part of an application for construction and operating permits.
Coeur anticipates total 2013 expenditures of $12 million, including $6
million for the PEA and $5 million for exploration and feasibility work,
and an additional $18 million of expenditures in 2014, including $5
million for exploration. All such costs will be expensed.
Exploration Upside
La Preciosa is situated within a contiguous block of concessions
totaling more than 125 square miles (32,400 hectares). The La Preciosa
deposit and the majority of prior exploration work are contained within
a smaller core of concessions covering approximately 4.2 square miles
(1,100 hectares), or 3% of the total land package. Coeur believes the
surrounding, larger land package contains similar host rocks and
structural features to those in the core concessions but these have not
yet been explored in a systematic manner.
The Company's exploration priorities will be to (i) upgrade key inferred
mineral resources included in the current PEA mineral resource results
to at least indicated status, (ii) commence exploration near the current
mineral resources for extensions and new mineral occurrences and, (iii)
conduct a full district compilation of all historic data to assist with
regional exploration.
Project Timetable
A construction decision will be made following completion of the
feasibility study in the second half of 2014. Assuming a positive
decision, construction is expected to take two years, with potential
initial production beginning in the second half of 2016.
The PEA was completed by M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation (M3) of
Tucson, Arizona, with the support of Independent Mining Consultants,
Inc. (IMC) and Resource Evaluation, Inc. (REI) of Tucson, Arizona. Coeur
selected M3 to conduct the PEA due to their extensive experience in
Mexico, having designed and constructed over 16 mining projects in the
country, including Goldcorp's Peñasquito mine.
The PEA is preliminary in nature and it includes inferred mineral
resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the
economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be
characterized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty that the
results reflected in the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that
are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Mineral resource estimates do not account for mineability, selectivity,
mining loss and dilution. There is no certainty that the inferred
mineral resources will be converted to the measured and indicated
categories or that the measured and indicated mineral resources will be
converted to the proven and probable mineral reserve categories.
About Coeur
Coeur Mining, Inc. is the largest U.S.-based primary silver producer and
a growing gold producer. The Company has four precious metals mines in
the Americas generating strong production, sales and cash flow. Coeur
produces from its wholly owned operations: the Palmarejo silver-gold
mine in Mexico, the San Bartolom? silver mine in Bolivia, the Rochester
silver-gold mine in Nevada and the Kensington gold mine in Alaska. The
Company also has a non-operating interest in the Endeavor mine in
Australia. In addition, the Company has two silver-gold feasibility
stage projects - the La Preciosa project in Mexico and the Joaquin
project in Argentina. The Company also conducts ongoing exploration
activities in Mexico, Argentina, Nevada, Alaska and Bolivia. The Company
owns strategic investment positions in eight silver and gold development
companies with projects in North and South America.
1. Cash operating costs and operating cash flow are non-GAAP
measures. Please see 'Non-U.S. GAAP Measures? under 'Cautionary
Statements? below.
Cautionary Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of securities legislation in the United States and Canada, including
statements regarding future mineral production, reserve potential,
capital expenditures, exploration drilling, potential size of a
mineralized zone, potential expansion of mineralization, potential
quantity and/or grade of minerals, potential type(s) of mining
operation, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, anticipated
operating results such as production and cost levels and expectations as
to the timing of development decisions, project construction and initial
production related to La Preciosa. Such forward-looking statements are
identified by the use of words such as 'believes,? 'intends,? 'expects,?
'indicates,? 'demonstrates,? 'hopes,? 'may,? 'should,? 'will,? 'plan,?
'projected,? 'contemplates,? 'anticipates? or similar words, and involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause
Coeur's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed
or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include,
among others, the risks inherent in developing large-scale mining
projects, such as changes in the estimated economics at the feasibility
stage, potential cost overruns, and permitting and construction delays,
the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including
environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically
related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold and silver and
a sustained lower price environment, the uncertainties inherent in
Coeur's production, exploratory and developmental activities, including
risks relating to permitting and regulatory delays, any future labor
disputes or work stoppages, the uncertainties inherent in the estimation
of gold and silver ore reserves and resources, changes that could result
from Coeur's future acquisition of new mining properties or businesses,
the loss of any third-party smelter to which Coeur markets silver and
gold, the effects of environmental and other governmental regulations,
the risks inherent in the ownership or operation of or investment in
mining properties or businesses in Mexico, Coeur's ability to raise
additional financing necessary to conduct its business, make payments or
refinance its debt, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors set
out in filings made from time to time with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian securities regulators,
including, without limitation, Coeur's most recent reports on Form 10-K
and Form 10-Q. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary
significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to
put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coeur disclaims any
intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Additionally, Coeur undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses,
expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Coeur,
its financial or operating results or its securities.
The qualified persons who prepared the PEA are Josh Snider and Thomas
Drielick of M3 and the qualified persons who prepared the mineral
resource estimate effective June 26, 2013 are Don Earnest of REI, and
John Marek of IMC, all of whom reviewed the applicable scientific and
technical information concerning La Preciosa in this news release and
verified the data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test
data underlying such information . A Technical Report of the La Preciosa
PEA, compliant with Canada National Instrument 43-101, Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects, will be filed later this month.
Donald J. Birak, Coeur's Senior Vice President of Exploration and a
qualified person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101, reviewed the
scientific and technical information concerning Coeur's mineral projects
in this news release. A description of the key assumptions, parameters
and methods used to estimate mineral reserves and resources generally,
as well as data verification and quality assurance procedures and a
general discussion of the extent to which the estimates may be affected
by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation,
socio-political, marketing or other relevant factors, will be included
in the Technical Report for La Preciosa to be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com
later this month and is consistent with Technical Reports for each of
Coeur's properties as filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors-The United States Securities and
Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with
the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can
economically and legally extract or produce. We may use certain terms in
public disclosures, such as 'measured,' 'indicated,' 'inferred? and
'resources,' that are recognized by Canadian regulations, but that SEC
guidelines generally prohibit U.S. registered companies from including
in their filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider
closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K which may be secured from us, or
from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.
Non-U.S. GAAP Measures
We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined
under United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP)
with certain non-U.S. GAAP financial measures, including cash operating
costs and operating cash flow. We believe that these adjusted measures
provide meaningful information to assist management, investors and
analysts in understanding our financial results and assessing our
prospects for future performance. We believe these adjusted financial
measures are important indicators of our recurring operations because
they exclude items that may not be indicative of, or are unrelated to
our core operating results, and provide a better baseline for analyzing
trends in our underlying businesses. We believe cash operating costs and
operating cash flow are important measures in assessing the Company's
overall financial performance.
APPENDIX
Table 5: La Preciosa Mineral Resources, Effective Date of June 26,
2013
Mineral Resources | ? | Short Tons | ? | Average Grades (oz/t) | ? | Contained Ounces (000) | ||||
(000) | Ag | ? | Au | Ag | ? | Au | ||||
Measured | 12,664 | 2.78 | 0.005 | 35,194 | 68.3 | |||||
Indicated | 44,576 | 2.49 | 0.005 | 110,979 | 209.3 | |||||
Total Measured and Indicated | 57,240 | 2.55 | 0.005 | 146,173 | 277.7 | |||||
Inferred | 19,504 | 1.93 | 0.003 | 37,726 | 60.3 |
Footnotes to the Mineral Resources:
1. Metal prices used for estimation of Mineral Resources were
$27.45 per troy ounce of silver and $1,508 per troy ounce of gold.
2. There are no Mineral Reserves presently at La Preciosa.
3. A Net Smelter Return (NSR) cutoff of $20.43/tonne ($18.54/short
ton) was used, based on the following parameters:
? | ? | ? | ? | NSR = | ? | [(Ag price per ounce -refining charge) x plant recovery x |
[(Au price per ounce -refining charge) x plant recovery x payable recovery] |
4. Rounding of short tons, grades and troy ounces, as required by
reporting guidelines, may result in apparent differences between tons,
grades and contained metal contents.
5. The NI 43-101-compliant Technical Report, disclosing the results
of the PEA, will be filed on http://www.sedar.com
later this month.
6. Inferred Mineral Resources are considered too speculative
geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that
would enable them to be ?considered for estimation of ?Mineral Reserves.
Coeur Mining, Inc.
Wendy Yang, 208-665-0345
Vice President,
Investor Relations
or
Stefany Bales, 208-667-8263
Director,
Corporate Communications
www.coeur.com