Copper Mountain reports Ball Mill transformer interruption

Web Site: www.CuMtn.com
TSX: CUM

VANCOUVER, Nov. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (TSX: CUM) (the "Company" or "Copper Mountain") announces that one of the two ABB transformers powering the motors on Ball Mill #2 at the Copper Mountain mine has failed and has caused Ball Mill #2 to be out of service for a temporary period while repairs are made.  Mill throughput will be restricted by approximately 25% while the concentrator operates with just one Ball Mill. It is planned that the mill will be back to full production next week.

Spare coils are available and ABB have expedited crews to the mine to make the necessary repairs. As part of the original design plan for the concentrator, the two Ball mills and the SAG mill have identical motors and transformers that are interchangeable in the event of a component failure.  Because this failure involves just one transformer on Ball Mill #2, the concentrator is able to continue to operate with the SAG Mill and Ball Mill #1 at a reduced mill throughput. It is anticipated that production will be limited to approximately 1050 TPOH or about 25,000 TPD until repairs are completed.

Jim O'Rourke, President & CEO of Copper Mountain commented, "This transformer failure is a disappointing event for the operation at this time as our team has been making significant strides in improving tonnage through the SAG mill.  Production of copper for the month of October was on schedule at 6.5 million pounds and although this event will slightly impact metal production all resources are being applied to minimize the impact. This outage is not expected to affect our ability to achieve our guidance of 65 to 70 million pounds of copper for 2013".

About Copper Mountain Mining Corporation:
Copper Mountain's flagship asset is the 75% owned Copper Mountain mine located in southern British Columbia near the town of Princeton. The Company has a strategic alliance with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation who owns the remaining 25%. The Copper Mountain mine commenced production in the summer of 2011, and has continued to improve its operations during the year; and attained design capacity in the summer of 2012. The 18,000 acre site has a resource of approximately 5 billion pounds of copper and remains open laterally and at depth. The mine has significant exploration potential that will need to be explored over the next few years to fully appreciate the properties full development potential.  Additional information is available on the Company's new web page at www.CuMtn.com.

On behalf of the Board of
COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION

Jim O'Rourke" 

Jim O'Rourke, P.Eng.
Chief Executive Officer

Note:  This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.  These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results.  Readers are referred to the documents, filed by the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.  The Company undertakes no obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE Copper Mountain Mining Corporation

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED