(contained Q4 2013 Full Year 2013 Revised1,2 2013 Original1,3 tonnes) Production 2013 Production Production Results Production Guidance Guidance Results -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper Neves-Cor 15,499 56,544 50,000 - 55,000 50,000 - 55,000 vo Zinkgruva 894 3,460 3,500 - 4,000 2,500 - 3,500 n Aguablanc 1,685 6,242 5,500 - 6,000 4,500 - 5,000 a ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wholly-ow 18,078 66,246 59,000 - 65,000 57,000 - 63,500 ned Tenke 12,155 50,346 50,000 47,000 (@24%) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 30,233 116,592 109,000 - 104,000 - attribut 115,000 110,500 able Zinc Neves-Cor 14,456 53,382 50,000 - 55,000 45,000 - 50,000 vo Zinkgruva 18,340 71,366 73,000 - 78,000 73,000 - 78,000 n ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 32,796 124,748 123,000 - 118,000 - 133,000 128,000 Lead Neves-Cor 849 1,496 nil nil vo Zinkgruva 7,119 32,874 33,000 - 36,000 33,000 - 36,000 n ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 7,968 34,370 33,000 - 36,000 33,000 - 36,000 Nickel Aguablanc 2,113 7,574 6,500 - 7,000 5,000 - 5,500 a --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Production guidance is based on certain estimates and assumptions, including but not limited to; mineral resource and reserves, geological formations, grade and continuity of deposits and metallurgical characteristics, amount and timing of costs, foreign exchange and commodity prices.
2. Guidance as presented in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis as at September 30, 2013.
3. Original production guidance was disclosed on December 5, 2012 in a news release entitled "Lundin Mining Provides Operating Outlook for 2013-2015".
Paul Conibear, President and CEO commented, "We are very pleased, once again, with our performance as we have exceeded the high-end of our annual production guidance targets for copper and nickel while meeting our overall zinc and lead targets in 2013. At Tenke an annual production record was set once again in 2013, and looking forward we expect the operation will continue to provide significant cash distributions back to the Company.
For 2014, we remain very well positioned to deliver another year of strong operating results at all our operations and we continue to look forward to bringing the high grade Eagle Project into production in the fourth quarter."
2014 production guidance1 has been updated to reflect recent guidance from Freeport on Tenke production and costs, but remains otherwise unchanged from that presented in our "Lundin Mining Provides Operating Outlook for 2014-2016" news release dated December 4, 2013 and is as follows:
--------------------------- 2014 Guidance1 ------------------------------ ------------------------------ (contained tonnes) Production C1 Cost3,4 --------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Copper Neves-Corvo 50,000 - 55,000 $1.90/lb Zinkgruvan 3,000 - 4,000 Aguablanca 5,000 - 6,000 Eagle 2,000 - 3,000 -------------------------------------------------- Wholly-owned 60,000 - 68,000 Tenke (@24%) 48,4002 $1.28/lb -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Total attributable 108,400 - 116,400 Zinc Neves-Corvo 60,000 - 65,000 Zinkgruvan 75,000 - 80,000 $0.35/lb -------------------------------------------------- Total 135,000 - 145,000 Lead Neves-Corvo 2,000 - 2,500 Zinkgruvan 27,000 - 30,000 -------------------------------------------------- Total 29,000 - 32,500 Nickel Aguablanca 6,000 - 7,000 $4.50/lb Eagle 2,000 - 3,000 -------------------------------------------------- Total 8,000 - 10,000 ---------------------------------------------------------
1. Production and C1 Cash Cost guidance is based on certain estimates and assumptions, including but not limited to; mineral resource and reserves, geological formations, grade and continuity of deposits and metallurgical characteristics, amount and timing of costs, foreign exchange and commodity prices.
2. Freeport provided 2014 sales guidance which has been assumed to approximate Tenke's production.
3. Cash costs remain dependent upon exchange rates (€/USD: 1.30, USD/SEK: 6.50) and metal prices (Cu: $3.15, Zn: $0.87, Pb: $1.00, Ni: $6.50, Co: $12.00).
4. Cash cost is a non-GAAP measure reflecting the sum of direct costs less by-product credits.
Operational Commentary
-- Neves-Corvo: Total copper production exceeded the original guidance for the year, largely as a result of higher than expected throughput.
Mining of the Lombador ore bodies commenced, as planned during 2013, resulting in higher zinc grades and record annual zinc production. With a full year of production from Lombador in 2014, zinc metal production is expected to reach 60,000-65,000 tonnes.
-- Zinkgruvan: Zinc and lead production were slightly below guidance levels largely as a result of lower than planned throughput levels caused by paste backfill and local ground control issues particularly early in the year. Despite steady production at rates of over 18kt of zinc production per quarter in the last three quarters of 2014, the mine was not able to catch up by the end of the year on the shortfall resulting from poor first quarter production. -- Aguablanca: Excellent production performance from the Aguablanca open pit throughout the year resulted in throughput, nickel and copper grades and metallurgical recoveries all being above expectations. Production of copper and nickel were well above guidance as a result.
-- Eagle: At Eagle, the project is proceeding well and remains on schedule, on budget, for commissioning and first concentrate sales during the fourth quarter of this year. -- Tenke: During 2013, Tenke achieved record mining and production rates facilitated by new Phase II expansion facilities that outperformed above design tonnage of 14,000 tpd. Throughput averaged approximately 14,900 metric tonnes of ore per day over the year, with November and December exceeding 16,000 metric tonnes of ore per day. As a result, attributable copper production was above guidance. During the third quarter of 2013, Tenke experienced power interruptions, which impacted operating rates. Power availability improved during the fourth quarter and Tenke continues to work with its power provider and authorities to establish more consistent and reliable power availability.
2013 Operating Statistics
Details of operating statistics by mine, by quarter and for the year follow in the attached table:
Total Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Neves-Corvo ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore mined, copper (000 tonnes) 2,535 674 618 648 595 Ore mined, zinc (000 tonnes) 968 236 255 266 211 Ore milled, copper (000 tonnes) 2,525 664 628 654 579 Ore milled, zinc (000 tonnes) 974 232 265 264 213 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Grade per tonne Copper (%) 2.6 2.8 2.4 2.5 2.7 Zinc (%) 7.1 8.1 7.3 6.6 6.2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Recovery Copper (%) 84.5 80.7 81.1 86.0 90.8 Zinc (%) 74.1 74.0 73.2 76.1 73.2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Concentrate grade Copper (%) 23.6 23.7 23.7 23.5 23.6 Zinc (%) 47.7 46.8 48.0 48.5 47.5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Production (contained metal) Copper (tonnes) 56,544 15,499 12,629 14,102 14,314 Zinc (tonnes) 53,382 14,456 14,723 13,940 10,263 Lead (tonnes) 1,496 849 416 231 -
Total Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zinkgruvan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore mined, zinc (000 tonnes) 911 216 230 222 243 Ore mined, copper (000 tonnes) 214 61 58 43 52 Ore milled, zinc (000 tonnes) 924 217 229 248 230 Ore milled, copper (000 222 59 58 49 56 tonnes) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grade per tonne Zinc (%) 8.5 9.1 9.0 8.5 7.5 Lead (%) 4.2 3.9 4.5 4.9 3.4 Copper (%) 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.1 2.2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recovery Zinc (%) 90.7 92.7 90.9 88.5 90.6 Lead (%) 84.8 83.6 84.5 85.5 85.2 Copper (%) 89.8 91.7 88.2 82.6 92.9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concentrate grade Zinc (%) 53.7 54.8 53.3 53.1 53.7 Lead (%) 73.4 75.1 73.5 74.1 70.4 Copper (%) 25.4 26.2 24.7 23.8 26.1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Production (contained metal) Zinc (tonnes) 71,366 18,340 18,743 18,599 15,684 Lead (tonnes) 32,874 7,119 8,703 10,461 6,591 Copper (tonnes) 3,460 894 973 447 1,146 Aguablanca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore mined (000 tonnes) 1,785 459 539 409 378 Ore milled (000 tonnes) 1,606 438 378 387 403 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grade per tonne Nickel (%) 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 Copper (%) 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recovery Nickel (%) 82.8 81.8 82.6 83.8 82.4 Copper (%) 93.8 94.2 94.2 93.9 93.2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Concentrate grade Nickel (%) 6.8 6.7 6.7 6.9 6.8 Copper (%) 5.6 5.3 5.6 5.6 6.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Production (contained metal) Nickel (tonnes) 7,574 2,113 1,788 1,876 1,797 Copper (tonnes) 6,242 1,685 1,485 1,516 1,556
Further information will be published in the Company's report on operating and financial results for year which is scheduled for release on February 20, 2014.
About Lundin Mining
Lundin Mining Corporation is a diversified base metals mining company with operations in Portugal, Sweden, Spain and the United States, producing copper, zinc, lead and nickel. In addition, Lundin Mining holds a 24% equity stake in the world-class Tenke Fungurume copper/cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Freeport Cobalt Oy business, which includes a cobalt refinery located in Kokkola, Finland.
On Behalf of the Board,
Paul Conibear
President and CEO
Forward Looking Statements
Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the Ontario Securities Act. This release includes, but is not limited to, forward looking statements with respect to the Company's estimated full year metal production and C1 cash costs, as noted in the Segmented Guidance section and elsewhere in this document. These estimates and other forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to the estimated cash costs, the timing and amount of production from the Eagle Project, the cost estimates for the Eagle Project, foreign currency fluctuations; risks inherent in mining including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected geological formations, ground control problems and flooding; risks associated with the estimation of mineral resources and reserves and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; the potential for and effects of labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or shortages of labour or interruptions in production; actual ore mined varying from estimates of grade, tonnage, dilution and metallurgical and other characteristics; the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations; uncertain political and economic environments; changes in laws or policies, foreign taxation, delays or the inability to obtain necessary governmental permits; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described under Risk Factors Relating to the Company's Business in the Company's Annual Information Form and in each management's discussion and analysis. Forward-looking information may also be based on other various assumptions including, without limitation, the expectations and beliefs of management, the assumed long term price of copper, zinc, lead and nickel; that the Company can access financing, appropriate equipment and sufficient labour and that the political environment where the Company operates will continue to support the development and operation of mining projects. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
For further information, please contact: Sophia Shane, Investor Relations North America: +1-604-689-7842 John Miniotis, Senior Manager Corp Development & Investor Relations: +1-416-342-5565 Robert Eriksson, Investor Relations Sweden: +46 8 545 015 50
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