Looking to the coming year, Capstone Mining said that 2012 would bring higher cash costs.

In a breakdown of its 2012 projections, Capstone forecast cash costs at Minto mine in the Yukon would rise to between USD 2.10 and USD 2.30 per payable pound copper. The estimate stood in stark contrast to projected cash costs at its Cozamin mine in Mexico where it guided for USD 0.95 to USD 1.05 per pound copper in cash costs.

Capstone said that altogether cash costs would average in the range of USD 1.55 to USD 1.65 per pound copper. Driving the copper miner's pessimism on production costs were faltering recoveries from troublesome stockpiled ore and a higher strip ratio at a new open pit at the Minto mine in the Yukon.

The lacklustre recovery was enough to make Capstone miss its 2011 guidance by a thin margin. It produced 78.3 million pounds copper versus an estimate of 80 million pounds copper for the year. In the Q4 last year copper recovery was especially low: 83.5% as compared to the 2011 average of 87.9%.

At the time Capstone said that efforts were underway to improve the recovery process. Also set to ding Capstone on costs is a less favourable strip ratio in the new Area 2/118 pit that will start feeding its Minto plant ore in the Q2 2012. In the meantime Capstone will continue to rely on stockpiled ore from its now exhausted Minto Main pit.

In terms of overall production, 2012 is set to be much the same as 2011; Capstone forecast that it would produce 80 million pounds copper, plus or minus 5%.

In the longer term Capstone hopes to nearly quadruple copper production to about 300 million pounds a year by 2016. The key to this plan will be its Santo Domingo project in Chile, which Capstone acquired through a takeover of Far West Mining last year.

Capstone and 30% partner KORES are working together to finance the Santo Domingo project, set to cost around USD 1.2 billion to build and produce around 250 million pounds copper a year in its first five years of operation, according to the latest estimates. KORES, which signed 50% offtake agreement on Santo Domingo production, is also responsible for financing the majority of capital expenditures.

It said that though to be sure Capstone, long a profitable miner also has deep pockets. In the Q3 the most recent in which it reported finances cash and its equivalent were USD 484 million.

(Sourced from www.mineweb.com)