Dayton to Suspend Mining and Crushing Operations At Andacollo.Business Editors VANCOUVER, B.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2000 Bill Myckatyn, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Dayton Mining Corporation (AMEX AMEX See: American Stock Exchange :DAY)(TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). :DAY.) announces that mining, crushing and stacking operations at Dayton's Andacollo Gold Mine in Central Chile will be suspended immediately and these parts of the operation will be put under care and maintenance until further notice. This action is being taken due to continuing low gold prices and lower than expected production at Andacollo. The mining and crushing equipment will be shut down and stored carefully in order to allow for a rapid restart of operations when economic conditions improve. Leaching from existing heaps will continue and Dayton expects to produce approximately 39,000 ounces of gold over the next 15 months, assuming full operations do not resume in the interim. A total of approximately 250 employees will be affected by the cessation of mining and crushing operations. The conditions necessary for a restart of mining will be a function of how long the mine is idle as this will impact on the ramp up Ramp Up To increase a company's operations in anticipation of increased demand. Notes: A company might 'ramp up' operations if they just signed a contract creating substantially more demand for their product. See also: Demand, Economies of Scale time required to get back to full production. The pits will be left with ore exposed and the existing leach pad has sufficient room to start stacking material right away. Production over the last few months has been considerably under plan. This has been due to a loss of ore tonnage, compared to the reserve model, in the Churrumata and Natalia pits which has resulted in higher stripping ratios and an inability to feed the planned tonnage to the crusher. Also, the leaching rate of material mined from the Natalia pit is significantly slower than expected from the original testwork. An internal liner was installed to speed up solution flow from this material, but failed to increase the recovery rate to planned levels. Because of the lower than expected gold production in the third quarter, and looking forward to the rest of this year and 2001, it was determined that a cessation of mining and crushing was warranted to preserve the value of the remaining resource. Mr. Myckatyn said: "It is most unfortunate that we have had to make this decision, but this is the best alternative available in the short to medium term. We met with our major suppliers of goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. in Chile but were unable to come up with sufficient cost savings to make enough of a difference. The operating group at the mine have done an outstanding job on reducing costs, but there is not much more that can be done. We are mining a low grade deposit in an environment of record low gold prices. By stopping mining and crushing now and conserving our equipment and resources we will be in the best position to restart operations when economic circumstances improve." "Safe Harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. " Statement: The statements, which are not historical facts contained in this release, are forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from targeted results. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to significant declines in precious metals Precious Metals Valuable metals such as gold, iridium, palladium, platinum, and silver. Notes: Investing in precious metals can be done either by purchasing the physical asset, or by purchasing futures contracts for the particular metal. prices; currency fluctuations; increases in production costs; differences in ore grades, recovery rates, and tonnes mined from those expected; changes in mining, or heap leaching Heap leaching is an industrial mining process to extract precious metals and copper compounds from ore. Process The mined ore is crushed into small chunks and heaped on an impermeable plastic and/or clay lined leach pad where it can be irrigated with a leach solution to rates from currently planned rates; the results of current exploration activities and new opportunities; and other factors detailed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Dayton Mining Corporation Suite 2393 - Three Bentall Centre 595 Burrard Street Burrard Street is a major thoroughfare in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the central street of Downtown Vancouver and the Financial District. The street is named for Burrard Inlet, located at its northern terminus, which in turn is named for Sir Harry Burrard. PO Box 49186 Vancouver BC Canada V7X 1K8 |
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