Minto Metals Corp. (TSX-V: MNTO) generated 3.4 million pounds less copper in Q1 this year than the first quarter of 2022 due to limited mining areas while transitioning to a different mining zone.
The Yukon mining company reported its results for Q1 this year on Thursday and produced 5.7 million pounds of copper, down significantly from the 9.1 million pounds generated in the first quarter of 2022.
Minto’s CEO says the first quarter of the year was disappointing and challenging.
Minto produced 175,944 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of ore, 206,653 dmt of mill feed and had an overall head grade of 1.35 per cent in Q1 this year.
Table via Minto Metals
According to Minto’s CEO Chris Stewart, production in the first quarter has been negatively impacted due to a combination of limited mining opportunities and geotechnical limitations in the Cu-Keel zone. This is because the company is shifting its focus from predominantly mining in the Copper-Keel zone to mining in Area-2 and Minto East 152 zones.
“As a management team, we have been diligently taking all necessary steps to optimize our operation, to increase our production and reduce our costs for the second quarter and the balance of the year,” said Stewart.
Stewart says the company will be resuming its drill program during the second half of this year and that Minto expects to see positive results and consistent revenue generation in H2.
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The Minto Mine is located about 250 kilometres north of Whitehorse within the Selkirk First Nation’s territory in central Yukon. The mine has produced over 500 million pounds of copper since it started operating in 2007.
This year, the company aims to continue completing the expansion of its water treatment plant, continue the expansion of its tailings dam and complete an “aggressive” 30,000-metre drill program requiring 84 new holes.
The mine also produces gold and silver, 100 per cent of which gets streamed to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (TSX: WPM) (NYSE: WPM) (LSE: WPM) at a discounted rate.
Minto’s shares stayed flat Thursday at $0.92 on the TSX Venture Exchange.
rowan@mugglehead.com
