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Mine Upgrade up to $15 Million Planned at Pinto Valley

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Vancouver based Capstone Mining company has announced it plans to modernize the crushing equipment and other front end upgrades to improve the mill and overall performance at its Pinto Valley Copper Mine west of Miami, Ariz.

Stockholders were told the project was expected to cost $10 to $15 million (U.S.) with double-digit return. Darren Pylot, president and chief executive officer of Capstone Mining said, “The return in investment (in this project) was calculated based on increasing throughput from current levels to targeted production levels between 56,000 tons to 57,0 00 tons per day to 2021 with reduced maintenance costs. These capital costs up to $15 million, are subject to board of directors approval in the fourth quarter of this year”

As far as possible expansion at the Pinto Valley operations the company says preliminary work on this study presently continues to evaluate potential mine expansion involving some one billion tons of copper resources currently not included in the mine’s reserves.

In Capstone’s third quarter financial results just released stockholders were told the company has achieved its cost reduction target in the range of $25 million (US) to $30 million, which included $12.5 million in savings at its Arizona copper mine operations.

Pylot further states as Pinto Valley’s operating momentum continues, we are currently focused on preparing the local copper mine for higher copper prices with low cost pay back improvements, plus looking to expand the mine into a multi generation asset.

In the third quarter of this year, copper production totals at both the Pinto Valley Copper Mine here in Arizona and its Coxamin producing copper mine in Southern Mexico amounted to 39 million pounds at a production cost of $1.85 a pound.

Capstone told its shareholders it had a loss of $10.7 million during the latest quarter which was impacted by lower realized copper prices and negative provisional prices adjustments in the quarter of $3.4 million as well as lower sales volume do to the timing last concentrate shipment of the quarter for Pinto Valley.

Estimated Pinto Valley mineral reserves at the end of last year were 408 million tons of copper ore at 0.33 percent.

It was in 2013 when BHP then owner of the property which estimated the life of its Pinto Valley Mine to be five years sold the operations to Capstone Mine for $650 million. At that time there were 650 full time employees at the mine. As the result of further exploration at the site the mine life was later expanded more than 20 years. The number of employees has dropped from 650 to  some 500 under Capstone’s ownership.