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(Kitco News) - Canadian copper producer Minto Metals (TSXV: MNTO) announced on Thursday that the company produced 28.9 million pounds of copper in 2022, a 12.6% increase over 2021, despite record snow measuring 417% above normal resulting in a record spring freshet event.
The company also reported increase in revenue by C$14.9 million y-o-y to C$153.2 million in 2022 due to higher sales volumes and higher average realized prices for copper, which were mostly driven by the strong first quarter in 2022.
However, Minto said that production costs increased by 17.9% to C$133.8 million compared to 2021 or 12.8% increase on a per unit basis due to the higher ore output from the mine in 2022.
The company also reported net loss of C$11.1 million in 2022 (2021: net loss of C$2 million), noting challenges at the operations throughout the year such as volatility of the copper price, ongoing supply chain impacts of COVID-19 and a record snow survey measuring 417% above normal coming out of the 2021/2022 winter.
President and CEO Chris Stewart commented, "We are pleased that total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased by 10.7% to C$153.2 million compared to the same period in 2021 however at the same time, the challenges we faced throughout the year increased our cost of production.
"On a positive note, we discovered multiple, new high-grade mineralized lenses through our 28,438 metres of diamond drilling and two substantial, high-priority drill targets were identified through geophysics below and within 1 km of the mine infrastructure. I remain confident that there is more value to be unlocked at the Minto mine through exploration and increasing production to 40 million pounds of copper per year."
Minto pointed out it continues to implement changes within the operation to mitigate the risks to its 2023 production plans, adding that the company is "aggressively" managing its costs.
Minto operates the producing Minto mine located within the traditional territory of the Selkirk First Nation in the Minto Copper Belt of the 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 Minto.
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.
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