Comstock Mining Announces First Quarter 2018 Results; Advances Strategic Mining Joint Venture; Dramatically Reduces Debt

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev., April 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American:LODE) today announced selected unaudited financial results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2018.

First Quarter 2018 Selected Strategic and Operational Highlights

• Advanced the Lucerne option agreement with Tonogold, who invested approximately $1 million for the evaluation and assessment of the Lucerne Mine Project’s resource and preliminary economic feasibilities.
• Received $2 million in cash proceeds for the Lucerne option agreement, in April, advancing into the second phase of the Lucerne Mine Project’s development with Tonogold.
• Reduced the outstanding debenture principal to $7.9 million in April, using Tonogold proceeds.
• Estimated annualized additional cost reductions of $1.25 million from Tonogold reimbursement subsidies.
• Realized $0.3 million in savings in 2018, and expect $2.0 million for full 2018 savings, as compared to 2017
• Advanced metallurgical testing, with a partner, on previously leached materials, efficiently recovering gold, silver, zinc, and other metals, while effectively neutralizing cyanide from the leached materials.
• Advanced metallurgical testing, with a strategic investee, on high and mid-grade Dayton gold and silver bearing materials, exceeding targeted yields with up to 88% gold recoveries in just 60 days.
• Agreed to acquire, for $0.6 million, a 25% interest in Pelen LLC, the 100% owner of the Sutro Tunnel Company, the Town of Sutro, the 6-mile Sutro Tunnel, the federal land grants, the mining rights along the 6-mile tunnel span, the rights to the water and the patented mining and other lands on Gold Hill.
• Agreed to sell the Daney Ranch for $4 million, expected to close by July 2018, subject to financing and permitting that would further reduce debenture principal to $3.9 million upon closing.

Corrado De Gasperis, Executive Chairman and CEO of the Company stated, “We are now positioned and focused on real asset and equity value appreciation for 2018, while concurrently eliminating our debt, growing the quality gold and silver resources and commercializing new technologies for accelerated growth. Our longer-term goal is to deliver up to $500 million of accretive share value by 2020, by innovating new and existing precious metal-related technologies, joint venturing and significantly expanding our economically feasible resources.”

First Quarter 2018 Selected Financial Highlights

• Real estate operating costs achieved a record low in Q1 2018, a 59% improvement compared to Q1 2017.
• Exploration and mine development expenses achieved a record low of $0.2 million in Q1 2018, a 23% reduction as compared to $0.3 million in Q1 2017, primarily driven by lower staffing costs.
• Environmental and reclamation expenses achieved a record low of $0.06 million in Q1 2018, an 83% reduction as compared to $0.35 million in Q1 2017, driven by higher 2017, site-water management costs.
• General and administrative expenses were relatively flat at $0.7 million in both Q1 2018, and Q1 2017.
• Net loss was $2.5 million, or ($0.05) loss per share for Q1 2018, as compared to net loss of $2.8 million, or ($0.07) loss per share for Q1 2017, with the improvement resulting from net cost reduction efforts.
• Net cash used in operations was $1.1 million in Q1 2018, as compared to a net use of $2.0 million in Q1 2017, primarily resulting from reductions in both costs and cash uses for working capital.
• Net cash provided by financing was $1.0 million in Q1 2018, primarily from the issuance of common stock.
• Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2018, were $2.0 million.

Mr. De Gasperis added, “Our industry partnership advancements and our cost reduction efforts have positioned us to advance our mine projects, in a low cost and capital efficient manner. We look forward to advancing and publishing feasibility reports on both Dayton and Lucerne this year. We now have the platform, the permits and the team to advance our projects to feasibility, commercialize potentially industry-changing technologies, monetize our non-mining assets and eliminate our debt. We look forward to reviewing these objectives, their progress and additional opportunities, on May 31, at our annual meeting in Gold Hill, Nevada.”

Exploration and Development - Lucerne Resource Area

Most recently, the Company’s internal efforts had focused on the exploration and development of the Lucerne resource area, primarily from underground core drilling, underground drift (tunnel) development, and underground sampling into the Quartz Porphyry (“PQ”) and Succor geological targets. The evaluation of this program was directed at producing a robust resource model for Lucerne as well as assessing a series of geological targets in the Silver City Branch of the Comstock Lode, including the Succor vein systems, the historic Woodville Bonanza system and the PQ target. The 1,000-foot plus Succor Vein Target has an average true width of 15 feet and an average dip of 65 degrees. The structure has reported historic mining grades of approximately 0.54 ounces per ton of “recovered” gold per ton and is open to the east and at depth, along the entire structure. The nearby Woodville Bonanza structure includes the same supporting historical mappings with reported historic mining grades of 0.749 ounces of gold per ton. The Woodville has significant current drill data including 116 intercepts of at least 10 feet, grading over 0.22 ounces per ton gold and 1.59 ounces per ton silver. The Company encountered contiguous mineralized intercepts (10 to 40 feet) from underground drilling as it moved north of the Silver City and Succor structural intersection and within and bordering the PQ mass. Future drill programs were being developed, but ultimately, the Company decided to pursue partners willing and able to commit the additional mining expertise and capital resources required to develop a commercially viable Lucerne-based mine plan.

Accordingly, during the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company entered into an Option Agreement (the “Option Agreement”) with Tonogold Resources Inc. (“Tonogold”) where Tonogold has the right to lead engineering, development, drilling and test-work, all towards completing a technical and economic feasibility assessment and ultimately, to earn into a joint venture for the future development and mining of mineral resources on the Lucerne Property.

After a six-month evaluation, Tonogold elected to proceed and the Company received the $2 million payment. Tonogold can now earn a 51% interest in the Lucerne Property, by advancing the Lucerne exploration and development activities by making cumulative capital expenditures on the Lucerne Property of $7 million by October 3, 2019, and $20 million by April 3, 2021, of which, approximately $1 million has been made to date. The Company immediately used $1.4 million of the proceeds, as required, to pay down its debenture.

Tonogold was also granted the option to purchase 51% of certain equipment and property for a purchase price of $25 million, or, alternatively, Tonogold can enter into a toll processing agreement with the Company. If Tonogold elects the tolling alternative, Comstock would retain 100% ownership and Tonogold would rent the Company’s processing facility, paying the Company a usage fee of $1 million per annum plus $1 per ton processed.

Exploration and Development - Dayton Resource Area

The Company continues advancing the Dayton Project and plans on updating the resource and providing preliminary economic feasibility and technical reporting in 2018. The plan also includes testing a variety of metallurgical processing alternatives and solutions for determining the optimal gold and silver yields and optimal efficiencies. To date, the Company has tested both cyanide-based and multiple, non-cyanide based solutions.

During the quarter, extensive cyanide-based column leach simulations were conducted on-site, in the Company's metallurgical labs. The design and objective of the experiment was for comparison versus alternative, non-cyanide solutions. Cycladex Inc. (“Cycladex”), a strategic investee, and funded by U.S. National Science Foundation grants, also began non-cyanide-based, vat leaching tests on mineralized materials from the Dayton resource. The vat leaching tests are ongoing, but the initial results are promising.

Cycladex has now processed Comstock mineralized material from the Dayton resource area and over a dozen, additional mines worldwide and is discovering broader, potentially cheaper applicability of its technology, when compared to cyanide. We have also been collaborating on trials at our facilities and Cycladex is now in the design phase of a scalable, proof of concept, process plant.

The cyanide columns we simulated leached gold quickly, with good recoveries on mineralized material collected from three specific, readily accessible locations on Dayton Resource patented land: Glory Hole-Mid Grade (GH-MG), Glory Hole-High Grade (GH-HG) and the Dayton Adit (DA). The material collected from each site represents gold and silver mineralization encountered in the Dayton resource model. Each bulk sample was segregated, coarse crushed, blended and split into two composites. Six columns were constructed and placed under leach, maintaining the same protocol for all columns. The tests were terminated after 60 cumulative leach days. The results were outstanding for both gold and silver, as shown below (Figure 1).

To view Figure 1 - Dayton In-house Column Leach Results (Cumulative Gold Recovery), please click on the following link: http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/c2239bee-5b15-456e-aa9e-5508d9c4f1b9

To view Figure 2 - Dayton In-house Column Leach Results (Cumulative Silver Recovery), please click on the following link: http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/6670aa62-6ddc-4f2b-b2ec-d495683a43ea

These in-house column test results complement the results of testing on similar material conducted by McClelland Laboratories of Reno, Nevada in 2011. Those tests, with results included in the Company’s January 2013 Technical Report, included bottle roll tests and column tests from Lucerne and Dayton mineralized material.

Positive Results From KAM-Thio Tests to Recover Silver, Gold while Neutralizing Cyanide

The company today reported positive results from initial testing in collaboration with Itronics Inc. (OTC:ITRO), of its KAM-Thio, clean processing technology, on our silver-gold heap leach tailings. The Company’s cyanide leaching process has historically recovered approximately 80-89 percent of its gold and 50-59 percent of its silver. KAM-Thio leaching test results, performed at independent metallurgical labs, are demonstrating that the residual silver, gold, base metals, and cyanide can still be recovered from the previously leached material, creating a potentially efficient and environmentally attractive process. Measurements also indicate that zinc, as well as copper and cobalt, although in smaller quantities, are also being recovered. The metals were recovered while the new KAM-Thio residual solution was substantially regenerated during the extraction process, thereby reducing the net consumption of the materials, and creating a potentially compelling economic solution.

Test results also showed that the cyanide residual in the cyanide leached material was removed by the new leaching process, neutralizing the solution to drinking water standards. These results could dramatically reduce reclamation costs and associated bonding, while adding the prospect of reuse of the material for mine reclamation purposes. All tests and results were performed with independent, metallurgical laboratories.

“We now know that we can recover substantially all of the residual silver, gold and base metals while neutralizing the cyanide. The results are very positive and justify continued feasibility work for assessing process economics. If this technology can efficiently recover these materials, then it could become a substitute for the use of cyanide, and significantly change the permitting, reclamation and processing cost profile for these types of mining projects.” stated Mr. DeGasperis.

The Company anticipates completing screening level economics during the second quarter and believes that these materials can also work on virgin, mineral bearing material that has not been leached by cyanide. Samples of virgin material from the Dayton resource area have already been delivered to Reno labs for testing.

The Company plans on updated its technical report for the Dayton resource area during 2018, based on all existing drilling, development and metallurgical work, as well as preliminary economic screening and feasibility for that work performed to date. The Company will also evaluate economic screening and feasibility assessment using these alternative processes.

Operating Costs

Our streamlining in 2017 lowered operating costs in all categories by well over $6 million, as compared to 2016, exceeding our targets while still expanding our lands, entitlements and permitted infrastructure, and maintaining our internal engineering, geological, land and financial competencies. These 2017 actions have already realized an additional $0.3 million in savings that are expected to total $2.0 million in annual savings for 2018, as compared to 2017. We are lean yet well positioned to grow our assets and our equity value during 2018.

Corporate

Pelen-Sutro Tunnel Company Acquisition

In January 2018, the Company issued 1,475,410 shares of restricted common stock to acquire 25% of the total membership interests of Pelen, LLC for $0.6 million. Pelen LLC, is the 100% owner of the historic Sutro Tunnel Company that owns the Town of Sutro, the historic 6-mile Sutro Tunnel, the federal land grants and mining rights spanning 1,000 feet on each side of the 6-mile span, the rights to the tunnel’s water and the patented mining claims and private lands on Gold Hill.

The purchase of the membership interests will close once the seller of the membership interests has received total cash proceeds of at least $585,000 either through sale of the restricted common stock received or through additional cash payments made by the Company. If all of the shares of restricted common stock have been sold and the aggregate proceeds are less than $585,000, then the Company is required to pay the shortfall in stock or cash, at the Company’s election. As of March 31, 2018, the purchase has not closed but the Company has right to vote on behalf of its interest to advance developments of the land, mineral properties and water rights. The Company recorded a make-whole liability of $0.2 million, representing the value shortfall at March 31, 2018.

Liquidity & Capital Resources

The Company received $2 million in cash proceeds from Tonogold and used a portion of those proceeds to reduce the Senior Secured Debenture, that now totals $7.92 million. The Company also has an agreement to sell the Daney Ranch for $4 million that is expected to close by July 2018, subject to financing and permitting. This would further reduce debenture principal down to $3.9 million upon closing. The Company also has cash and cash equivalents of $2.0 million at March 31, 2018.

The Company’s shares outstanding March 31, 2018 were 53,391,428. At year end December 31, 2017, the Company’s shares outstanding were 47,236,103. The increase includes 688,560 shares issued through an at-the-market offering program, 3,991,344 shares issued via a purchase agreement with Leviston Resources, 11 shares issued in January 2018, due to fractional shares rounded up from the Company’s November 10, 2017, reverse split and 1,475,410 shares issued to Pelen, LLC for membership interests in the Sutro Tunnel Company and its assets.

Outlook

The Company has reduced operation costs in almost every category and expects operating costs for 2018, to be approximately $3.6 million. The recently announced continuation and current collaboration with Tonogold, has both resulted in an immediate pay down of $1.4 million of debt, saving approximately $150,000 of annual interest expense. Tonogold has elected to continue into the next phase of the Option Agreement, with their payment of $2.0 million. We very much look forward to our partner progressing and publishing updated technical reports on the Lucerne project, with economic feasibility and a plan for returning the mine to production and the ongoing subsidy of Lucerne -related operating expenses, including environmental management and insurance, land claim fees and permit costs, amongst others, resulting in an additional $1.25 million in cost reductions. This should reduce our annual operating cost estimate of $3.6 million, down to below $2.5 million (excluding interest, depreciation, amortization and depletion).

We also plan to continue advancing the Dayton Project by updating the resource and providing preliminary economic feasibility and technical reporting in 2018. The plan also includes expanding the current resource at the Dayton and continuing southerly into Spring Valley with incremental expansion programs that include exploration and definition drilling of targets identified by geophysical surveys.

We also plan on pursuing feasibility for alternative, non-cyanide processing solutions, and anticipate publishing a separate feasibility report on one of those alternatives in 2018.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call today, April 26, 2018, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The live call will include a moderated Q&A, after the prepared comments by the Company. The dial-in telephone numbers for the live audio are as follows:

Toll Free: 1-877-830-2645

Direct: 1-785-424-1791

The audio will be available, usually within 24 hours of the call, on the Company website:

http://www.comstockmining.com/investors/investor-library

About Comstock Mining Inc.

Comstock Mining Inc. is a Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible mining. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and completed its first phase of production. The Company continues evaluating and acquiring properties inside and outside the district expanding its footprint and exploring all of our existing and prospective opportunities for further exploration, development and mining. The near term goal of our business plan is to maximize intrinsic stockholder value realized, per share, by continuing to acquire mineralized and potentially mineralized properties, exploring, developing and validating qualified resources and reserves (proven and probable) that enable the commercial development of our operations through extended, long-lived mine plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any related calls or discussions may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Comstock. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements about matters such as: future prices and sales of, and demand for, our products; future industry market conditions; future changes in our exploration activities, production capacity and operations; future exploration, production, operating and overhead costs; operational and management restructuring activities (including implementation of methodologies and changes in the board of directors); future employment and contributions of personnel; tax and interest rates; capital expenditures and their impact on us; nature and timing and accounting for restructuring charges, gains or losses on debt extinguishment, derivative liabilities and the impact thereof; productivity, production slowdowns, suspension or termination, business process, rationalization and other operational initiatives; investments, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, business combinations, asset sales; consulting, operational, tax, financial and capital projects and initiatives; contingencies; environmental compliance and changes in the regulatory environment; offerings, sales and other actions regarding debt or equity securities; including a redemption of the debenture, and future working capital, costs, revenues, business opportunities, debt levels, cash flows, margins, earnings and growth.

The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “should,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “potential” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of doing so. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical and current trends, current conditions, possible future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, representations or warranties and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Some of those risks and uncertainties include the risk factors discussed in Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of our annual report on Form 10-K. Occurrence of such events or circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows or the market price of our securities. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.

Neither this press release nor any related calls or discussions constitutes an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Debenture or any other securities of the Company.

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