Capstone Mining meets 2012 targets, shares surge 10 per cent

VANCOUVER – Capstone Mining Corp. (TSX:CS) saw its shares rise 10 per cent Thursday after the Vancouver-based company said it met its 2012 production targets.

Combined production at its two operating mines, Cozamin and Minto, came in at 19.7 million and 82.8 million pounds of copper in concentrates for the fourth quarter and full year, respectively.

The miner reported byproduct production of 4.3 million and 17.2 million pounds of zinc, 415,060 and 1,759,352 ounces of silver and 0.5 million and 2.9 million pounds of lead in concentrates for the quarter and year, respectively.

Capstone said final gold production numbers were not yet available, but they were estimated at 6,785 and 18,599 ounces for the respective periods.

Shares in the company closed up 26 cents, or 10.16 per cent, at $2.82 Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange on heavy volume of 10,052,586 shares.

“We achieved our 2012 production guidance… with both mines performing as anticipated in the fourth quarter,” said Darren Pylot, president and CEO.

“The flexibility of having two operating mines allowed Cozamin’s strong performance to more than compensate for the shortfall experienced at Minto during 2012.”

Capstone is scheduled to report its fourth quarter and year end results on March 13.

Capstone is a Canadian-base metals mining company. The Cozamin mine is located in Zacatecas State, Mexico and the Minto mine in Yukon.