VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – June 9, 2016) – Trevali Mining Corporation (“Trevali” or the “Company”) (TSX:TV)(LMA:TV)(OTCQX:TREVF)(FRANKFURT:4TI) provides a mine and mill commissioning update for its Caribou Zinc Mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northern New Brunswick. A detailed description and discussion is provided below and progress highlights are as follows:
Caribou Mill – key commissioning & preliminary production statistics (figures rounded)
| Q1-2016 | April 2016 | May 2016 | June 2016 (MTDii) | |||||
| Tonnes Mined | 191,005 | 58,564 | 57,103 | 10,560 | ||||
| Tonnes Milled | 200,670 | 60,032 | 53,038iii | 13,350 | ||||
| Average Mill Tonnes-per-dayi (TPD) | 2,675 | 2,636 | 2,874iii | 2,907 | ||||
| Average Head Grades % | ||||||||
| Zinc | 5.9 | % | 6.1 | % | 5.7 | % | 6.4 | % |
| Lead | 2.6 | % | 3.0 | % | 2.6 | % | 3.2 | % |
| Silver – Oz (ounces)/ton | 2.0 oz/t | 2.7 oz/t | 2.3 oz/t | 2.8 oz/t | ||||
| Average Recoveries % | ||||||||
| Zinc | 71 | % | 74 | % | 78 | % | 79 | % |
| Lead | 58 | % | 57 | % | 58 | % | 55 | % |
| Silver (in Lead concentrate) | 38 | % | 32 | % | 31 | % | 33 | % |
| Concentrate Produced DMT (dry metric tonnes): | ||||||||
| Zinc | 17,732 | 5,832 | 5,041 | 1,470 | ||||
| Lead | 7,586 | 2,634 | 1,968 | 583 | ||||
| Concentrate Grades % | ||||||||
| Zinc | 47.8 | % | 46.4 | % | 47.2 | % | 46.2 | % |
| Silver – Oz (ounces)/ton | 4.0 oz/t | 5.3 oz/t | 5.1 oz/t | 4.8 oz/t | ||||
| Lead | 39.3 | % | 39.6 | % | 40.2 | % | 40.5 | % |
| Silver – Oz (ounces)/ton | 20.3 oz/t | 19.5 oz/t | 19.9 oz/t | 21.0 oz/t |
- Exclusive of downtime for scheduled mill servicing and maintenance cycle days.
- June MTD as of June 7, 2016.
- In late-May an electrical storm affected northern New Brunswick including the Caribou site. Unfortunately this resulted in an unplanned mill shut-down following a series of lightning strikes with both the SAG and Ball Mill motors shutting-down following power surges. Prior to re-starting site operations our electrical contractor completed detailed examination of both motors over the following days which resulted in loss of throughput during this period. The mill is currently processing at approximately 2,900 tpd in June month-to-date.
Caribou Zinc Circuit Summary
During May-2016 and June-2016 Month-to-Date (“MTD”) the Caribou metallurgical team made very significant improvements on increasing zinc recoveries towards entitlement ranges as outlined in the Caribou PEA report (see Technical Report on Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Caribou Massive Sulphide Zinc-Lead-Silver Project, Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc., on the Company’s website or on SEDAR).
The Company continues to focus on highlighted areas for metallurgical improvement with modifications to be implemented during ongoing scheduled maintenance periods (please see News Release TV-NR-16-11, May 11, 2016 for details). Modifications completed during May, and which are ongoing include:
- Primary grind: Continues to consistently trend lower year-to-date at increasingly higher throughputs. In January the primary grind averaged 41 um versus 36 um in May. Work is ongoing and the mill team is currently optimizing the ball charge (smaller media) in Ball Mill #1.
- Zinc recoveries continue to trend higher as the metallurgical team continues to improve the plant process water quality (essentially manage the calcium content).
- IsaMill redundancy work is complete.
Ongoing scheduled optimization initiatives include:
- Increase in the number of sample stations for the on-stream sample analyzer.
- SAG Mill modifications, primarily installation of newly designed lifters and shell liners will commence in June and continue during scheduled shut downs throughout the summer period.
- Cyclone control optimization to further increase circuit stability – June.
- Pumping infrastructure including capacity and electrical upgrades are in progress. Standby pumps are also being rebuilt. The upgrades are designed to result in improved performance when handling the finely ground process feed.
Caribou Mining
With the zinc circuit essentially de-risked, site is focusing on underground operations. The technical services team continues to de-bottleneck underground operations. Progress during the month includes the successful implementation of a production drill/blast QA/QC program. Site continues to liaise closely with our service provider in this regard and Trevali’s Peruvian blasting consultant, who is now on site, to provide additional support. Fleet availability is also anticipated to improve with the arrival of a new underground scoop in early June.
Stope drawpoint extraction rates continue to exceed PEA planned rates, by up to 4 times more productive, through innovative design. Utilization of new planning tools and modeling has provided additional truck capacity at the drawpoint.
The Company remains committed to its plan to ramp mine production to 2,500-2,700 tpd by the end of Q2.
Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance
EurGeol Dr. Mark D. Cruise, Trevali’s President and CEO, Paul Keller, P.Eng, Trevali’s Chief Operating Officer are qualified persons as defined by NI 43-101, have supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Dr. Cruise is not independent of the Company as he is an officer, director and shareholder. Mr. Keller is not independent of the Company as he is an officer and shareholder.
ABOUT TREVALI MINING CORPORATION
Trevali is a zinc-focused, base metals mining company with one producing operation in Peru and another currently undergoing commissioning in Canada.
In Peru, the Company is actively producing zinc and lead-silver concentrates from its 2,000-tonne-per-day Santander mine.
In Canada, Trevali owns the Caribou mine and mill, Halfmile mine and Stratmat deposit all located in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northern New Brunswick. The Company is currently commissioning its 3,000-tonne-per-day Caribou mine.
The common shares of Trevali are listed on the TSX (symbol TV), the OTCQX (symbol TREVF), the Lima Stock Exchange (symbol TV), and the Frankfurt Exchange (symbol 4TI). For further details on Trevali, readers are referred to the Company’s website (www.trevali.com) and to Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
TREVALI MINING CORPORATION
Mark D. Cruise, President
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States private securities litigation reform act of 1995 and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Statements containing forward-looking information express, as at the date of this news release, the Company’s plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations, or beliefs as to future events or results and the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation to, update such statements containing the forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to statements as to: the Company’s plan to prepare a new PEA for its Halfmile and Stratmat properties, the accuracy of estimated mineral resources, anticipated results of future exploration, and forecast future metal prices, expectations that environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-economic, political, marketing or other issues will not materially affect estimates of mineral resources. These statements reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies.
These statements reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in spot and forward markets for silver, zinc, base metals and certain other commodities (such as natural gas, fuel oil and electricity); fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar and Peruvian sol versus the U.S. dollar); risks related to the technological and operational nature of the Company’s business; changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, the United States, Peru or other countries where the Company may carry on business in the future; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected geological or structural formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); risks relating to the credit worthiness or financial condition of suppliers, refiners and other parties with whom the Company does business; inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks and hazards; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining,; diminishing quantities or grades of mineral resources as properties are mined; global financial conditions; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, the Company; the Company’s ability to complete and successfully integrate acquisitions and to mitigate other business combination risks; challenges to, or difficulty in maintaining, the Company’s title to properties and continued ownership thereof; the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, and changes in project parameters to deal with unanticipated economic or other factors; increased competition in the mining industry for properties, equipment, qualified personnel, and their costs. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty or reliance on forward-looking statements.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.
Trevali’s production plan at the Caribou Mine is based only on measured, indicated and inferred resources, and not mineral reserves, and does not have demonstrated economic viability. Trevali’s production plan at the Santander Mine is based only on indicated and inferred mineral resources, and not mineral reserves, and does not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is therefore no certainty that the conclusions of the production plans and Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) will be realized. Additionally, where Trevali discusses exploration/expansion potential, any potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.
We advise US investors that while the terms “measured resources”, “indicated resources” and “inferred resources” are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the US Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize these terms. US investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the material in these categories will ever be converted into reserves.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold within the United States, absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.
The TSX has not approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release.
Vice President, Investor Relations
and Corporate Communications
(604) 488-1661 / Direct: (604) 638-5623
sstakiw@trevali.com