VANCOUVER, Aug. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Bear Creek Mining
(TSX Venture: BCM / BVL: BCM) ("Bear Creek" or the
"Company") is pleased to report that on August 27 it has officially filed with the
Ministry of Energy and Mines ("MEM") all responses to
comments arising from the Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment ("ESIA") submitted in December 2012. A total of 147 comments were
addressed in the responses; a very low number indicating the
strength of the original technical report. The MEM has 30
days to request additional information, should any be
required. The Company's responses were thorough and, in
management's opinion, the submission of responses sets the stage
for ESIA approval in Q3 or early Q4, 2013. Corani is a large,
silver-lead-zinc deposit containing 270M ounces silver and 4.8
billion pounds of combined lead and zinc which is forecasted to
produce over 13M ounces silver per year at negative cash costs per
ounce of silver, net of by-product credits, for the first 7 years
of its 22 year mine life. The project has solid local and
regional community support as demonstrated by the endorsement of
the project at the formal public hearing and the creation of social
investment programs, in concert with the Peruvian central
government, for the life of the mine.
Andrew Swarthout, President and
CEO, states "We are pleased with the pace at which Corani is
advancing through the permitting process. Bear Creek looks
forward to the ESIA approval along with the continued support from
the Peruvian government in order to make this important project for
Puno and Peru a reality."
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking
Statements:
All of Bear Creek's exploration programs and
pertinent disclosure of a technical or scientific nature are
prepared by or prepared under the direct supervision of
Andrew Swarthout, P.Geo., CEO, who
serve as the Qualified Persons under the definitions of NI
43-101. The block model estimate, mine design and schedules
were prepared by Independent Mining Consultants of Tucson Arizona. John Marek P.E. acted as the independent
qualified person as defined by Canada's National Instrument 43-101.
Additionally the methods used in determining and reporting the
mineral reserves and resources are consistent with the CIM Best
Practices Guidelines. The method used in the resource
calculation is equivalent to the method used in the resource
calculation shown in our August 23,
2006 Press Release. For this resource estimate we have
used metal prices based on a 3-year backward average and a 2-year
forward price based on the metal markets in August 2011.
Assumptions used in the mineral reserve and FS
model by IMC are: Silver Price=$18.00/oz; Zinc Price=$0.85/lb; Lead Price=$0.85/lb; Mixed Sulfide Material Silver Recovery
is fixed at 62% to lead con and an additional14% to the zinc con
when zinc head grade is greater than 0.7%, 10.4% Ag recovery when
zinc head grade is from 0.7% to 0.5%, 6.3% recovery of silver to
the zinc con when zinc head grade is from 0.5% to 0.3% and no
silver recovery to the zinc con when zinc head grades are less than
0.3%. Zinc Recovery=67.5% to zinc con when the zinc head
grade is greater than 0.7%, 50% Zn recovery when zinc head grade is
from 0.7% to 0.5%, 30% recovery of zinc to the zinc con when zinc
head grade is from 0.5% to 0.3% and no zinc recovery to the zinc
con when zinc head grades are less than 0.3%. Lead Recovery=75% to
lead con. For Transitional Material Silver Recovery=
38.5%+.2*Ag Grade (g/t) (Maximum 70%
recovery) to lead con and 0% to the zinc con, Zinc Recovery= 0% to
zinc con and Lead Recovery= 38%+10.9*Lead Grade (%) (Maximum 65%
recovery) to lead con. Average smelter charges including Treatment
Charges and Refining Charges ("TCRC") and metal deducts
against saleable metal: Silver= $1.52
per ounce; Zinc= $0.62 per pound;
Lead= $0.41 per pound; Mining Costs
per tonne= $1.34; Process cost per
tonne= $8.00; G&A per processed
tonne= $1.20; Pit Slopes= 42 degrees
in mineralized tuff and 46 degrees in post-mineralized tuff.
The resulting mineral reserve cutoff is $10.54/tonne ore NSR. The mineral reserves
are contained within a practical mining plan that utilized the
'floating-cone" method as an initial guide for design.
The mineral resource portion of the project is
contained in a larger pit than the FS design pit, which was a
floating cone using the following input assumptions: Silver
Price=$30.00/oz; Zinc
Price=$1.00/lb; Lead
Price=$1.00/lb; Mixed oxide material
that was given 0% recovery for the reserves was assumed to have an
85% recovery of silver, all other recoveries remained the
same. The Mineral Resource cut-off was $9.20/tonne which represents the internal process
cutoff. All metallurgical material types were included in the
resource.
All diamond drilling has been performed using HQ
diameter core with recoveries averaging greater than 95%.
Core is logged and split on site under the supervision of Bear
Creek geologists. Sampling is done on two-meter intervals and
samples are transported by Company staff to Juliaca, Peru for direct shipping to ALS Chemex,
Laboratories in Lima, Peru.
ALS Chemex is an ISO 9001:2000-registered laboratory and is
preparing for ISO 17025 certification. Silver, lead, and zinc
assays utilize a multi-acid digestion with atomic absorption
("ore-grade assay method"). The QC/QA program includes the
insertion every 20th sample of known standards prepared by SGS
Laboratories, Lima. A
section in Bear Creek's website is dedicated to sampling, assay and
quality control procedures.
The FS was prepared by a team of independent
engineering consultants. The mining and block model portion
was prepared by Independent Mining Consultants of Tucson Arizona, John Marek, PE acting as QP.
The process plant design was prepared by M3 Engineering, Dan Neff,
PE acting as QP. Metallurgy and Process design criteria developed
by Blue Coast Metallurgy Ltd. Chris
Martin, CEng acting as QP. And geotechnical,
environmental, infrastructure, waste stockpile and tailings designs
were prepared by Global Resource Engineering Ltd., Chris Chapman,
PE acting as the QP. Each of these individuals has read and
approves the respective scientific and technical disclosure
contained in this news release. Silver Equivalency
calculation represents the contained equivalent silver ounces
contained in the ground and is based on the resource metal prices
assumptions of $18.00/oz Ag, 0.85/lb
Pb and 0.85/lb Zn and recoveries to concentrate of 64.2% for silver
and 71.1% for lead and 51.6% for zinc. The calculation does
not take into account the net smelter payment terms for the
different metals in the two separate concentrates. The
resulting equivalency is 1 oz Ag = 19.1 lb Pb and 1 oz Ag = 26.3 lb
Zn.
Total cash cost per ounce of silver is
calculated in accordance with a standard approved by The Silver
Institute, a nonprofit international association that draws its
membership from across the breadth of the silver industry.
Adoption of the standard is voluntary and the cost measures
presented may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures
of other companies. Total cash cost includes mine site
operating costs such as mining, processing, administration, and
treatment and refining charges, but is exclusive of amortization,
reclamation, capital, exploration costs and taxes on income. Total
cash costs are reduced by lead and zinc by-product revenues, and
then divided by silver ounces sold to arrive at total cash cost of
per ounce of silver, net of by-product revenues. Previously,
the Company included reclamation costs as a component of its total
cash cost per ounce of silver.
The Company has elected to follow the Silver
Institute's cash cost standard, and has therefore excluded
reclamation costs from its calculation of total cash cost per ounce
of silver.
This document contains "forward-looking information" within
the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information
and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking
statements" are made as of the date of this news release or as of
the date of the effective date of information described in this
news release, as applicable. Forward-looking statements
relate to future events or future performance and reflect current
estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future
events and include, without limitation, statements with respect to:
(i) the amount of mineral reserves and mineral resources; (ii) the
amount of future production over any period; (iii) net present
value and internal rates of return of the proposed mining
operation; (iv) capital costs, including start-up, sustaining
capital and reclamation/closure costs; (v) operating costs,
including credits from the sale of silver, lead and zinc; (vi)
strip ratios and and mining rates; (vii) expected grades and
payable ounces and pounds of metals and minerals; (viii) expected
processing recoveries; (ix) expected time frames; * prices of
metals and minerals; and (xi) mine life. Any statements that
express or involve discussions with respect to predictions,
expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions
or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words
or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects",
"estimates", "envisages", "assumes", "intends", "strategy",
"goals", "objectives" or variations thereof or stating that certain
actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or
"will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of
these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of
historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.
All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's or
its consultants' current beliefs as well as various assumptions
made by and information currently available to them. These
assumptions include, without limitation: (i) the presence of and
continuity of metals at the project at modeled grades; (ii) the
capacities of various machinery and equipment; (iii) the
availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated
prices; (iv) exchange rates; (v) metals and minerals sales prices;
(vi) appropriate discount rates; (vii) tax rates and royalty rates
applicable to the proposed mining operation; (viii) financing
structure and costs; (ix) anticipated mining losses and dilution; *
metals recovery rates, (xi) reasonable contingency requirements;
and (xiii) receipt of regulatory approvals on acceptable terms.
Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable
based on information currently available to it, they may prove to
be incorrect. Many forward-looking statements are made
assuming the correctness of other forward looking statements, such
as statements of net present value and internal rate of return,
which are based on most of the other forward-looking statements and
assumptions herein. The cost information is also prepared
using current values, but the time for incurring the costs will be
in the future and it is assumed costs will remain stable over the
relevant period.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve
inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and
risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other
forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions
do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a
number of important factors could cause the actual outcomes to
differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates assumptions and intentions
expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk
factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions
and estimates expressed above do not occur, but specifically
include, without limitation, risks relating to variations in the
mineral content within the material identified as mineral reserves
and mineral resources from that predicted; variations in rates of
recovery and extraction; developments in world metals and minerals
markets; risks relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar
relative to other currencies; increases in the estimated capital
and operating costs or unanticipated costs; difficulties attracting
the necessary work force; increases in financing costs or adverse
changes to the terms of available financing, if any; tax rates or
royalties being greater than assumed; changes in development or
mining plans due to changes in logistical, technical or other
factors, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be
refined; risks relating to receipt of regulatory approvals; the
effects of competition in the markets in which the Company
operates; operational and infrastructure risks; and the additional
risks described in the Company's Annual Information Form, annual
financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for
the year ended December 31, 2011 and
in the PFS and FS filed on the SEDAR website in Canada (available at www.sedar.com). The
foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not
exhaustive.
When relying on our forward-looking statements, investors and
others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other
uncertainties and potential events. The Company does not
undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written
or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on
behalf of the Company, except as required by law.
SOURCE Bear Creek Mining Corporation