VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - July 17, 2017) - Turquoise Hill Resources (NYSE: TRQ) (NASDAQ: TRQ) (TSX: TRQ) today announced second quarter 2017 production for Oyu Tolgoi.
Jeff Tygesen, Chief Executive Officer of Turquoise Hill, said, "Oyu Tolgoi's second quarter production results were as planned. Ore treated in the quarter was impacted by a scheduled five-day maintenance shutdown in May, which was successfully completed. Concentrator throughput for the first half of 2017 continued to perform well as did material mined."
In Q2'17, material mined increased 3.5% over Q1'17 while grades for the quarter were flat compared to Q1'17. Copper and gold production for Q2'17 was essentially in-line with Q1'17 production despite the planned maintenance shutdown. Sales of copper in Q2'17 decreased 5.6% over Q1'17 due to lower concentrate volumes during the quarter. Gold sales in Q2'17 decreased 28.1% over Q1'17 due to sales in Q1'17 including some higher-grade concentrate from Q4'16.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 130,000 to 160,000 tonnes of copper and 100,000 to 140,000 ounces of gold in concentrates for 2017. Open-pit operations are expected to mine in Phases 4 and 6 during the year. In addition, stockpiled ore will continue to be processed during 2017.
Oyu Tolgoi Production Data
All data represents full production and sales on a 100% basis
Full
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 1H 1H Year
2016 2016 2016 2016 2017 2017 2016 2017 2016
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Open pit
material
mined ('000
tonnes) 22,867 22,716 25,739 25,615 24,333 25,193 45,582 49,527 96,938
Ore treated
('000
tonnes) 9,662 9,525 9,146 9,819 10,087 9,637 19,187 19,724 38,152
Average mill
head grades:
Copper (%) 0.70 0.64 0.66 0.61 0.51 0.51 0.67 0.51 0.65
Gold (g/t) 0.63 0.33 0.21 0.25 0.15 0.16 0.48 0.15 0.36
Silver (g/t) 1.92 1.92 1.99 1.50 1.30 1.38 1.92 1.34 1.83
Concentrates
produced
('000
tonnes) 229.5 207.1 203.2 206.7 176.0 171.0 436.6 347.0 846.6
Average
concentrate
grade (%
Cu) 25.1 24.9 22.9 22.0 21.6 21.8 25.0 21.7 23.8
Production of
metals in
concentrates
:
Copper ('000
tonnes) 57.6 51.7 46.6 45.5 38.1 37.2 109.2 75.3 201.3
Gold ('000
ounces) 144 70 37 49 25 24 213 49 300
Silver ('000
ounces) 395 391 361 273 215 236 786 450 1,420
Concentrate
sold ('000
tonnes) 213.1 227.4 206.2 182.0 190.2 182.0 440.5 372.2 828.6
Sales of
metals in
concentrates
:
Copper ('000
tonnes) 51.2 54.4 45.7 37.6 39.5 37.3 105.7 76.7 188.9
Gold ('000
ounces) 175 95 38 39 32 23 270 55 347
Silver ('000
ounces) 305 395 341 239 205 222 700 427 1,280
Metal
recovery (%)
Copper 85.6 83.3 78.0 76.6 74.9 74.6 84.5 74.7 81.0
Gold 72.2 69.3 62.0 63.4 48.8 47.7 71.2 48.3 68.5
Silver 66.4 65.9 61.7 57.2 51.8 53.9 66.2 52.9 63.1
Forward-looking statements
Forward-looking statements made herein, including statements relating to matters that are not historical facts and statements of the Company's beliefs, intentions and expectations about developments, results and events which will or may occur in the future, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements and information relate to future events or future performance, reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events and are typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "could", "should", "expect", "seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "plan", "estimate", "will", "believe" and similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. These include, but are not limited to, statements respecting anticipated business activities, planned expenditures, corporate strategies, and other statements that are not historical facts.
Forward-looking statements and information are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements or information. There can be no assurance that such statements or information will prove to be accurate. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies, local and global economic conditions, and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of copper, gold and silver, anticipated capital and operating costs, anticipated future production and cash flows, and the status of the Company's relationship and interaction with the Government of Mongolia on the continued development of Oyu Tolgoi and Oyu Tolgoi LLC internal governance. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and information include, among others, copper, gold and silver price volatility; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; development plans for processing resources; matters relating to proposed exploration or expansion; mining operational and development risks; litigation risks; regulatory restrictions (including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability); communications with local stakeholders and community relations; activities, actions or assessments by governmental authorities; events or circumstances that may affect the Company's ability to deliver its products in a timely manner; currency fluctuations; the speculative nature of mineral exploration; the global economic climate; dilution; share price volatility; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; capital and operating costs, including with respect to the development of additional deposits and processing facilities; and defective title to mineral claims or property. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. All such forward-looking statements and information are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company's management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements or information.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcomes will not occur. Events or circumstances could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those estimated or projected and expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements are included in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's Annual Information Form dated as of March 23, 2017 in respect of the year ended December 31, 2016 (the "AIF").
Readers are further cautioned that the list of factors enumerated in the "Risk Factors" section of the AIF that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions with respect to the Company, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.
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Contact
Investors and Media
Tony Shaffer
+ 1 604 648 3934
tony.shaffer@turquoisehill.com
