TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jun 13, 2013) - Anaconda Mining Inc. ("Anaconda" or "the Company") - (ANX.TO) is pleased to announce certain financial and operating results from the fiscal fourth quarter and full year ended May 31, 2013. During the fourth quarter, the Company sold 4,367 ounces of gold and generated $6,780,307 in revenue at an average sales price of $1,552 per ounce. The fourth quarter sales volume and revenue were approximately 41% and 32% greater than the third quarter sales volume and revenue, respectively. For fiscal 2013, the Company sold 14,879 ounces of gold and generated $24,173,439 in revenue at an average sales price of $1,625 per ounce. Compared to fiscal 2012, sales volume and revenue increased 24% and 21%, respectively.
President and CEO, Dustin Angelo, stated, "Fiscal fourth quarter was a strong performance with record results for gold sales volume and throughput. In the latter half of fiscal 2013, we introduced initiatives to maintain higher consistency in the operations, which manifested themselves in greater output and has set the stage for the coming fiscal year. Since fiscal 2011, year-over-year, the Company has demonstrated the ability to generate better and better operating results as evidenced by fiscal 2013 sales volume being 24% higher than fiscal 2012 and 178% greater than fiscal 2011. With the improvements in Pine Cove's operations and higher projected grade, we expect sales volume in FY 2014 to exceed FY 2013."
FY Q4 2013 Mill Operations Overview:
The Pine Cove mill processed 84,768 dry tonnes of ore during the fourth quarter, which is the highest quarterly volume achieved to date. The record throughput represented 982 tonnes per operating day, compared to the budgeted amount of 967. The mill operated for 86 days at an availability rate of 93% and an overall gold recovery of 84%, slightly exceeding budgeted expectations. The average head grade of 2.19 grams per tonne, exceeded the 1.99 grams per tonne budgeted for the quarter. The budgeted grade for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 is expected to be 1.89 grams per tonne with the average grade for the full fiscal year budgeted at 2.12 grams per tonne.
The following table summarizes the key operating statistics by quarter for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2013:
| Q1 '13 | Q2 '13 | Q3 '13 | Q4 '13 | Total/Avg | |||||||||||
| OPERATING STATISTICS: | |||||||||||||||
| Availability | 80 | % | 94 | % | 85 | % | 93 | % | 88 | % | |||||
| Dry tonnes processed | 62,865 | 76,292 | 63,822 | 84,768 | 287,747 | ||||||||||
| Tonnes per 24-hour day | 856 | 887 | 830 | 982 | 891 | ||||||||||
| Grade (grams per tonne) | 1.85 | 1.76 | 2.17 | 2.19 | 1.99 | ||||||||||
| Overall mill recovery | 84 | % | 83 | % | 83 | % | 84 | % | 83 | % | |||||
| Gold sales volume (troy oz.) | 4,217 | 3,194 | 3,101 | 4,367 | 14,879 | ||||||||||
The record throughput performance can be attributed to mechanical improvements in the crusher and an extension in the crushing schedule. The mechanical improvements increased availability and a 24-hour crushing schedule enabled Pine Cove to build and maintain a large crushed ore stockpile during the quarter. These changes provided a more consistent feed for the mill and allowed operations to continue unaffected during any planned or mechanical downtime of the crusher, thus resulting in record throughput for the fourth quarter.