Press Release Source: Minera Andes Inc. On Wednesday March 30, 2011, 8:11 am EDT
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - 03/30/11) - Minera Andes Inc. (the "Company" or "Minera Andes") (TSX:MAI - News)(OTC.BB:MNEAF - News) is pleased to announce net income of $30.9 million ($0.12 per share basic and $0.11 per share diluted) for the year ended December 31, 2010, an increase of $26.8 million compared to net income of $4.1 million ($0.02 per share basic and diluted) for the year ended December 31, 2009. On a quarterly basis the company reported net income of $18.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of $16.4 million ($0.07 per share basic and diluted) compared to net income of $2.4 million ($0.01 per share basic and diluted) for the same period ended December 31, 2009. All amounts in this news release are in US dollars unless otherwise noted. Our financial statements and management's discussion and analysis are available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.
Minera Andes has a 49% interest in Minera Santa Cruz ("MSC"), which owns and operates the San Jose Mine, a joint venture between Minera Andes (49%) and Hochschild Mining plc (51%).
Highlights - Full Year 2010
-- Settlement of lawsuit with Hochschild Mining plc: The Company announced
on September 20, 2010, an end to litigation with certain affiliates of
Hochschild Mining plc. in New York courts relating to funding of the San
Jose Mine joint venture. Revised project and shareholder loan agreements
were completed and the Company received its first two scheduled
quarterly repayments of interest totaling $5.7 million as well as an
additional prepayment of $3.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The
Company expects to receive a minimum of $1.4 million in scheduled
payments during the first half of 2011 and significantly increased
amounts in the second half of 2011.
-- San Jose Mine Performance (on a 100% basis): Net income for 2010 at the
San Jose Mine increased by $54.6 million compared to 2009 driven
primarily by higher realized prices and increased production. The
average gross sale price per ounce of silver and gold was $23.36 and
$1,281, respectively, an increase of 58% and 28% compared to 2009.
Production during 2010 was 5,323,842 ounces of silver and 84,303 ounces
of gold. Silver production increased by 7% while gold production was 9%
higher, compared to 2009. The average production cash cost, on a per-
ounce, co-product basis, was $9.67 per ounce of silver and $568 per
ounce of gold for the year ended December 31, 2010, compared to $7.08
per ounce of silver and $477 per ounce of gold for the year ended
December 31, 2009.
-- San Jose Mine Exploration: The Company announced on October 7, 2010, the
discovery of 9 new high-grade gold/silver veins plus important
extensions of 2 other veins, which together total more than 5 kilometres
in strike length at the San Jose Mine. Further to this discovery, the
Company announced on March 10, 2011, an additional 2 new veins within
the area of the existing San Jose mining operations totaling a further
2.5 kilometres of strike length. The discoveries represent significant
exploration progress at the San Jose Mine where the total strike length
of all the previously known veins totalled approximately 17 kilometres.
The updated audited resource estimate for the San Jose property at December 31, 2010, is as follows:
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Resource Tonnes Ag Au AgEq AgEq
Category (000's) g/t g/t g/t M oz
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Measured 1,035 570 8.10 1,056 35.14
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Indicated 2,020 426 6.14 795 51.63
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Measured & Indicated 3,055 475 6.80 883 86.77
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Inferred 2,986 373 5.96 731 70.18
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1) AuEq is calculated as 1oz Au. = 60 oz. Ag.
2) Resources estimation utilized inverse distance and ordinary kriging
methods depending on data density.
3) Resources were defined at a cut-off of 198 g/t AgEq.
4) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have
demonstrated economic The estimate of mineral resources may be
materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title,
taxation, socialpolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues.
viability.
5) The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources in this estimation
are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to
define these Inferred resources as in Indicated or Measured mineral
resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in
upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured mineral resource category.
6) Mineral resources were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining,
Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and
Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing
Committee on Reserve Definitions and meet the requirements of JORC.
The updated audited reserve estimate for the San Jose property at December 31, 2010, is as follows:
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Tonnes Ag Au AgEq AgEq
Reserve Category (000's) g/t g/t g/t M oz
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Proven 713 511 7.26 947 21.71
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Probable 756 394 5.45 721 17.52
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Proven & Probable 1,469 451 6.33 831 39.23
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1) AuEq is calculated as 1oz Au = 60 oz Ag.
2) Reserves were defined at a cut-off of $68.43/tonne.
3) Internal Dilution = 7%, Mining and Geotechnical Dilution = 22% and Mine
Extraction = 68%.
4) Mineral reserves were estimated using the CIM, CIM Standards on Mineral
Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM
Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and meet the requirements of
JORC.
-- Los Azules Exploration: The Company announced on June 21, 2010, an
increase in the mineral resource at the Los Azules Project. A total of
137 million tonnes, grading 0.55 percent copper, of the previous
inferred mineral resources were upgraded to the indicated category and
an additional 116 million tonnes of inferred mineral resources were
added, bringing the total of inferred mineral resources to 900 million
tonnes. Based on this resource update, the Company announced on December
16, 2010 the results of an updated preliminary assessment ("PA"), which
showed that the net present value ("NPV") of the project increased from
$0.5 billion to $2.9 billion and the internal rate of return ("IRR")
increased from 10.8% to 21.4%. The Company announced on March 17, 2011,
its intention to spin-out the Los Azules Copper Project into a new
publicly traded company, subject to a number of approvals.
About Minera Andes
Minera Andes is an exploration company exploring for gold, silver and copper in Argentina with three significant assets: A 49% interest in Minera Santa Cruz SA, owner of the San Jose Mine in close proximity to Goldcorp's Cerro Negro project; 100% ownership of the Los Azules copper deposit with an inferred mineral resource of 10.3 billion pounds of copper and an indicated resource of 2.2 billion pounds of copper; and, 100% ownership of a large portfolio of exploration properties in Santa Cruz province, Argentina, including properties bordering the Cerro Negro project in Santa Cruz Province. Exploration and infill drilling is currently underway at the Los Azules project The Company had $31 million USD in cash as at February 7, 2011 with no bank debt. Rob McEwen, Chairman and CEO, owns 31% of the shares of the company.
About Minera Santa Cruz
Minera Santa Cruz SA is a joint venture owned 51% by Hochschild Mining Argentina, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hochschild Mining plc, and 49% by Minera Andes S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. The joint venture owns and operates the San Jose property.
