Copper Mountain terminates CFO
Copper Mountain Mining Corp. [CMMC-TSX] said it has terminated the employment of Rodney Shier as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. But the company offered no explanation for the move in a press release that was issued shortly before midnight on August 23, 2022.
“Bradley Bolger, currently the company’s Vice-President, Finance will become interim Chief Financial Officer,” the company said.
On August 23, Copper Mountain shares were up almost 8.0% or 12 cents to $1.63 on volume of 1.28 million. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $4.38 and $1.23.
Copper Mountain’s flagship asset is the 75%-owned Copper Mountain mine in southern British Columbia. The Copper Mountain Mine currently produces approximately 100 million pounds of copper equivalent per year, with average annual production expected to increase to approximately 140 million pounds of copper equivalent at a cash cost of US$1.19 per- pound over the first 10 years of its 21-year mine life.
The company has been drilling a satellite deposit known as New Ingerbelle in a bid to define sufficient reserves to add another 10 years of production to Copper Mountain’s life of mine plan.
Copper Mountain’s other key asset is the Eva Copper Project in the Mount Isa region of Queensland. The company has formally approved the development of Eva, contingent on completing detailed engineering to at least 80%, a process that was expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2022.
The project is envisioned to be a conventional open pit with a conventional crush, grind, flotation circuit. The property is accessible by air and road and has sufficient water and power available via a powerline.
Based on the current schedule, commissioning of Eva is expected to be in late 2024. The project is expected to produce 106 million pounds of copper equivalent (including 100 million pounds of copper and approximately 14,000 ounces of gold) on an annual basis.
Meanwhile the Copper Mountain Mine produced 13.3 million pounds of copper, 5,792 ounces of gold and 61,628 ounces of silver in the second quarter of 2022. That was down from 25.5 million pounds of copper, 7,627 ounces of gold, and 147,973 ounces of silver in the second quarter of 2021.
“There were a number of challenging issues in the second quarter contributing to lower production and higher costs,’’ said Copper Mountain President and CEO Gil Clausen. “Most of the impact to production came from lower-grade ore and crushing circuit throughput.’’
However, with increased grade, recovery and throughput, Clausen said he anticipates strong production in the second half of 2022, with the fourth quarter being the strongest quarter, and carry that production through 2023 and 2024.