TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – As lower prices and higher production costs stymie its performance, Vancouver-based base metals producer Capstone Mining has reported a wider net loss for the three months ended March 31.

The company, which operates three mines in North America, on Tuesday noted a loss of $17.4-million, or $0.05 a share, for the period under review, compared with a net loss of $4.4-million, or $0.01 a share, in the previous comparable period.

Excluding special items, the loss was $8.9-million, or $0.02 a share, which was better than analyst forecasts of a $0.04 loss a share.

Revenue in the period was $102.9-million, generated mainly from selling 20 082 t of copper, down 17% over the same period last year, when revenue of $160.8-million was generated after the sale of 26 601 t copper at a realised copper price of $2.47/lb. C1 cash costs came in at $1.89/lb sold, against $1.86/lb in the same period a year earlier.

Consolidated output was 22 853 t of payable copper at a C1 cash cost of $1.97/lb, compared with 26 245 t at $1.92/lb in the 2014 period.

Capstone said it was focused on resolving mill reliability and stability issues at Pinto Valley, in Arizona, where ongoing work would be needed to reliably sustain throughput at the target 52 000 t/d level. The company had recruited third-party specialists to help improve the maintenance programme, which was expected to support the throughput objective.

Development activity fell behind plan at Cozamin, in Mexico, which impacted access to ore and throughput. Capstone expected to make up the production shortfall through the year and new procedures and training had already resulted in improved performance, the company said.

Meanwhile, Capstone continued to build long-term value on several fronts including the Pinto Valley PV3 expansion study, which was expected in the third quarter and would expand output and mine life, while permitting work continued at Minto North, in Canada’s Yukon Territory, with permits expected in the current quarter.

The Santo Domingo project, in Chile, was also moving towards completing its environmental-impact assessment in the current quarter.

This year, Capstone expected to produce 90 000 t of copper in concentrate and cathode at a C1 cash cost of $2/lb to $2.10/lb of payable copper produced net of by-product credits and selling costs.