VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – British Columbia-focused copper/gold producer Copper Mountain Mining has reported buoyant fourth-quarter earnings attributable to shareholders of C$2.1-million, or C$0.01 a share, a swing back to profit as improving prices and sales volumes boosted the bottom line.

The Vancouver-based miner, which operates the eponymous mine 300 km east of Vancouver, reported adjusted earnings excluding special items of C$0.07 a share, convincingly beating average Bay Street analyst estimates for earning C$0.01 a share.

For the period ended December, the miner reported revenues of C$84.5-million, net of pricing adjustments and treatment charges based on an average provisional copper price of $2.35/lb, which was a near-70% year-over-year increase from revenue of C$50-million a year earlier, and a copper price of 2.21/lb.

The Copper Mountain mine produced 20.8-million pounds of copper during the three-month period, compared with 19.4-million pounds of copper in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

The mine shipped and sold a total of 21-million pounds of copper, 7 200 oz of gold, and 83 300 oz of silver, compared with 18-million pounds of copper, 7 800 oz of gold and 62 400 oz of silver in the comparable quarter of 2015.

Site cash costs were $1.25/lb of copper produced, net of precious metal credits, and total cash costs were $1.64/lb sold, compared with $1.21/lb of copper produced and $1.66/lb of copper sold a year earlier, respectively.

“Despite the challenging commodities price environment for most of the year, the mine has been cash flow positive from operations and has continued to focus on cost controls and production efficiencies. Total cash costs for the quarter decreased by 11.5% to $1.54/lb of copper sold net of precious metal credits and after all off-site charges, over 2015 total cash costs of $1.74/lb. Mine production was ahead of budget during the year with approximately 188 000 t/d, well above our 2016 guidance of 174 000 t/d,” president and CEO Jim O’Rourke stated.

Copper Mountain plans to produce between 75-million to 85-million pounds of copper this year, based on a mill throughput rate of 38 000 t/d and a mill feed grade of 0.30% copper. The planned mining rate is 180 000 t/d for the year, with the majority of ore sourced from the Pit 2 area, the saddle area and the Oriole deposit.

The company’s TSX-listed stock ended the Tuesday trading session up 4.31% at C$1.21 apiece.