Minto announces Q2 production results

Minto Metals Corp. July 19 reported the second quarter production results from its Minto mine located within the Selkirk First Nation in central Yukon, as well as two new members to the company's management team.

"Our second quarter production results highlighted our third consecutive quarter of operational improvement as compared to 2021, including a 16% increase in payable copper pounds for QTR 2, however we were behind on our planned targets for the quarter," said Minto Metals President and CEO Chris Stewart.

Reported during its first quarter announcement, the Yukon territory received between 150% to 400% more snowfall than usual during this past winter, which generated a significant volume of water across the area.

As the snowpack melted, the Minto mine site saw water volume inflow exceed the mine's discharge capacities, which caused the storage pond levels to rise.

"Spring Freshet posed some water challenges for us, but our team successfully navigated these while ensuring the environment was protected. Ensuring environmental protection is of paramount importance to Minto," continued Stewart.

To manage the situation, the company temporarily suspended its milling operations until spring thaw ended, ensuring all water arriving on the mine site was properly managed within the mine's water management system and that the environment was protected.

"Suspending operations at the mill for a total of four weeks has reduced our payable copper pounds produced in QTR 2, but the good news is that although our mill was scheduled to run at 3,250 tonnes per day in H2/2022, we are permitted to run it up to 4,200 tpd," said Stewart.

As full second-quarter financial results have yet to be released, until Aug. 18, according to Minto, highlights from production include:

• Copper sales were 5.4 million pounds in the second quarter compared to the 4.6 million from last year Q2, a 16% increase despite mill suspension.

• Ore tonnage produced for Q2 was 236,795 dry metric tons, a 4.8% increase from 225,853 dmt over the same period last year.

• Mill feed for Q2 was 176,169 dmt, compared to 231,334 dmt from the same period last year.

• Overall head grade for Q2 improved to 1.43% from 1.39% from last year.

"We have the operational flexibility to ramp up our mill's throughput in H2/2022 and process the 77,300 tonnes of ore (with an estimated grade of 1.41% copper) that was stockpiled ahead of the mill while it was temporarily halted. This will allow us to deliver on our previously communicated guidance for 2022," said the Minto CEO.

Management additions

Minto Metals announced in parallel with its production results the addition of Channa Kumarage as director of corporate development and Tania Barreto as director of investor relations.

"We'd like to welcome Channa and Tania to Minto," said Stewart. "The company has been strategically building a team that will contribute to the growth of the company in order to create shareholder value and optimize and grow our operations."

Kumarage has eight years of experience in the mining industry as a professional engineer in Ontario and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mineral Engineering from the University of Toronto. His strengths lie in strategic mine planning, reserve estimation, and financial modeling to support companies such as McEwan Mining and Alamos Gold.

Minto says Kumarage brings a great deal of knowledge and value to the company and hopes he will provide necessary leadership to Minto's engineering team while evaluating corporate development opportunities going forward.

"Channa's experience in strategic mine planning, mine development, financial modeling, and professional engineering makes him the ideal candidate to lead the technical team in order to further establish Minto Metals as a world-class mineral producer," added Stewart.

Barreto has spent the better part of two decades in capital markets for the mining industry, with 17 years of experience in investor relations. Holding a certified practitioner of investor relations designation from the Ivey School of Business, her understanding of the financial industry and capital markets has helped to elevate several publicly traded companies to success.

Barreto recently served as head of investor relations at Maritime Resources and previously as vice president, investor relations and corporate affairs at Golden Star Resources and vice president, investor relations at Silver Tiger Metals. Prior to that, she held roles of increasing responsibility at Roxgold Inc., Primero Mining, and Detour Gold Corp.

"Tania's capital markets experience in investor relations will be instrumental in communicating Minto's vision to the investment community while ensuring that we are transparent to the market, and that existing and potential shareholders are kept abreast of our activities," the Minto CEO said. "We are delighted to have Channa and Tania join the Minto team."