Minto Metals Announces Copper Production for Second Quarter of 2022 and Appoints New Corporate Development and Investor Relations Leaders
July 19, 2022

Press Releases

Whitehorse, Yukon, July 19, 2022 (CISON) – Minto Metals Corp. (“Minto” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Company’s 2022 second quarter (“QTR 2”) production results from the Minto Mine located within the Selkirk First Nation’s Territory in central Yukon, Canada. Payable copper production was 5.4 million pounds. The Company is also pleased to announce the appointments of Channa Kumarage as Director, Corporate Development and Tania Barreto as Director, Investor Relations.

Second Quarter Highlights:

Copper sales were 5.4 million pounds in QTR 2 compared to 4.6 million pounds in QTR 2 2021, resulting in a 16% increase
Operating Results:
Ore tonnes produced for QTR 2 was 236,795 dry metric tonnes ("dmt"), a 4.8% increase from 225,853 dmt in QTR 2 2021
Mill feed for QTR 2 was 176,169 dmt, compared to 231,334 dmt in QTR 2 2021
Overall head grade for QTR 2 has improved to 1.43% from 1.39% in QTR 2 2021
2022 QTR 2
Production Results

2022 QTR 2 30-Jun-22 2021-QTR 2 30-Jun-21 QTR 2 % Variance

Ore Tonnes Produced 236,795 225,853 4.8 %
Ore Tonnes Milled 176,169 231,334 -23.8 %
Head Grade %. 1.43 % 1.39 % 2.9 %

Payable Copper (million pounds) 5.37 4.62 16.2 %
Gold (ounces) (1) 2,203 1,837 19.9 %
Silver (ounces) (1). 24,591 24,451 0.6 %


1.

Under the Wheaton Precious Metals agreement, the Company receives 65% of the adjusted Gold price up to a maximum of US$1,250 for 2 years and then 50% up to a maximum of US$1,000 thereafter. (12 Months remaining on initial term) Silver receipts are at the lesser of the prevailing market price and US $4.35/oz with 1% annual escalator.


As previously communicated in the QTR 1 Financial Results press release of May 26, 2022, the Yukon received between 150% and 400% of the normal annual snowfall during this past winter, which generated a significant volume of water across the territory. As the snowpack melted, the Minto mine site saw daily water volume inflow exceed the mine's discharge capacities which caused the storage pond water levels to rise. To manage the situation, the Company temporarily suspended its milling operations until Spring Freshet 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.

“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. 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,” commented Chris Stewart, President and CEO.

“Suspending operations at the Mill for a total of 4 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 (“tpd”) in H2/2022, we are permitted to run it up to 4,200 tpd. 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,” continued Mr. Stewart.

The Company plans to release its full QTR 2 financial results on August 18, 2022.

New Appointments to Minto’s Management Team

The Company is also pleased to announce that Channa Kumarage has been appointed Director, Corporate Development and Tania Barreto has been appointed Director, Investor Relations.

Channa Kumarage has 8 years of experience in the mining industry as a Professional Engineer in Ontario. His strength in strategic mine planning, reserve estimation and financial modelling has supported companies such as McEwen Mining and previously Alamos Gold. Mr. Kumarage brings a great deal of knowledge and value to Minto and will provide leadership to Minto’s engineering team while evaluating corporate development opportunities going forward. Channa has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mineral Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Tania Barreto has 17 years of experience in Investor Relations and has spent her career in capital markets for the mining industry. Her strong understanding of the financial industry and capital markets has helped to elevate several publicly traded companies to success. Tania was recently Head of Investor Relations at Maritime Resources and previously Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs at Golden Star Resources and Vice President, Investor Relations at Silver Tiger Metals. Prior to that Ms. Barreto held roles of increasing responsibility at Roxgold Inc., Primero Mining and Detour Gold Corporation. Tania holds a CPIR designation from the Ivey School of Business.

“We’d like to welcome Channa and Tania to Minto. 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. 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.

Channa’s experience in strategic mine planning, mine development, financial modelling, and professional engineering makes him the ideal candidate to lead the technical team in order to further establish Minto Metals as a word-class mineral producer. We are delighted to have Channa and Tania join the Minto team,” added Mr. Stewart.

About Minto Metals Corp.

Minto operates the producing Minto mine located in the Minto Copper Belt, Yukon. The Minto mine has been in operation since 2007 with underground mining commencing in 2014. Since 2007, approximately 500Mlbs of copper have been produced from the Minto mine. The current mine operations are based on underground mining, a process plant to produce high-grade copper, gold, and silver concentrate, and all supporting infrastructure associated with a remote location in Yukon. The Minto property is located west of the Yukon River, about 20 km WNW of Minto Landing, the latter on the east side of the river, and approximately 250 road-km north of the City of Whitehorse, the capital city of Yukon.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), within the meaning of
etc. etc

see & read more on
https://mintometals.com/blog/press-release/?release=122500