TORONTO, Jan. 13, 2017 /CNW/ - Anaconda Mining Inc. ("Anaconda" or the "Company") – (TSX:ANX) is pleased to report its financial and operating results for the three months ended November 30, 2016 (the "Quarter").  The Company sold 4,388 ounces of gold resulting in $7,411,279 in revenue at an average sales price of $1,689 (USD$1,273) per ounce. Cash cost per ounce sold at the Point Rousse Project for the three months ended November 30, 2016 was $1,036 (USD$781). The Company generated positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses ("EBITDA") of $3,029,080 at the Point Rousse Project. Net income for the three months ended November 30, 2016 was $723,181. As at November 30, 2016, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $480,210 and net working capital of $1,752,360.

President and CEO, Dustin Angelo, stated, "Operationally, Anaconda rebounded well in the second quarter of fiscal 2017, producing and selling 4,388 ounces of gold, a 50% increase from the first quarter. Most notably, the Pine Cove Mill reached a new record level of throughput at over 1,300 tonnes per operating day. On the cost side, our cash operating cost per ounce for the second quarter of $1,036 per ounce was well below our trailing 8 quarters of $1,086 per ounce largely due to a reduced strip ratio and increased gold production. All-in cash cost of $1,625 per ounce for the second quarter was also much improved, 33% lower than the first quarter of fiscal 2017. In the second half of fiscal 2017, we are forecasting better gold production because of expected higher grade and lower all-in sustaining cash cost per ounce due to a further reduction in strip ratio and lower capital and exploration expenditures."

Highlights for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016

• As at November 30, 2016, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $480,210 and net working capital of $1,752,360.
• For the three months ended November 30, 2016, the Company sold 4,388 ounces of gold and generated $7,411,279 in revenue at an average sales price of $1,689 (USD $1,273) per ounce.
• For the six months ended November 30, 2016, the Company sold 7,307 ounces of gold and generated $12,331,016 in revenue at an average sales price of $1,688 (USD $1,287) per ounce.
• Cash cost per ounce sold at the Point Rousse Project for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016, was $1,036 (USD $781) and $1,119 (USD $853) per ounce, respectively.
• All-in sustaining cash cost per ounce sold ("AISC") (see Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures), including corporate administration, capital expenditures and exploration costs for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016, was $1,625 (USD $1,225) and $1,938 (USD $1,477) per ounce, respectively.
• The mill processed 1,302 tonnes of ore per operating day for the three months ended November 30, 2016.
• The overall recovery in the mill for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016, was 85%.
• At the Point Rousse Project, EBITDA (see Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures) for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016, was $3,029,080 and $4,316,647, respectively.
• On a consolidated basis, EBITDA for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016, was $2,359,601 and $2,964,380, respectively.
• Net income for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016, was $723,181 and $343,616, respectively.
• Purchase of property, mill and equipment for the six months ended November 30, 2016, was $1,496,493. Key items included tailings and polishing pond construction of $1,087,000, mill equipment upgrades of $291,000 and permitting/legal costs of $84,000 related to the construction of the marine dock facility for the Aggregates Venture.
• Production stripping assets for the six months ended November 30, 2016, include additions of $1,283,856 and amortization of $235,326.
• Approximately $2,015,000 was spent on exploration for the six months ended November 30, 2016, which included drilling, trenching, mapping and mineral resource estimates.

Operations overview

During the three months ended November 30, 2016, gold sales volume of 4,388 ounces represented a 5% decrease over the same period in fiscal 2016, largely due to a 17% decrease in grade. The decline in grade was offset by 13% higher throughput compared to the second quarter in fiscal 2016. Average sales price for the three months ended November 30, 2016, of $1,689 per ounce was 14% more than the $1,476 per ounce realized during the same period in fiscal 2016. Driven by the higher gold price and mill throughput, gross revenue for the three months ended November 30, 2016, of $7,411,279 was higher than the same period in fiscal 2016 by $613,204, or 9%.

UNIT COST ANALYSIS
During the quarter ended November 30, 2016, cash operating cost per ounce was $1,036 compared to cash operating cost in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 of $1,244. The reduction in cash cost was driven by the Company's higher sales volume of 4,388 ounces compared to 2,919 ounces in the previous quarter of fiscal 2017.

AISC per ounce was $1,625 in the second quarter compared to $2,408 in the first quarter of fiscal 2017. The primary drivers of the reduction in AISC per ounce were sales volume and a decrease in the strip ratio from 8.2 : 1 to 4.6 : 1. The average quarterly AISC per ounce for the trailing eight quarters has been $1,600. Based on the mine plan, the Company expects a further reduction in the strip ratio to 3.3 : 1 and all-in sustaining cash cost for the second half of fiscal 2017 to be $1,434 per ounce.

MILLING OPERATIONS
The following table summarizes the key mill operating metrics for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016 and 2015:

The Pine Cove Mill operated for 83 days during the second quarter of fiscal 2017 at an availability rate of 91%, a three-percentage-point increase over the availability in the second quarter of fiscal 2016. The mill achieved an average run rate of 1,302 tonnes per operating day compared to 1,181 tonnes per operating day in the second quarter of fiscal 2016, a 10% increase. The Pine Cove Mill processed 108,045 dry tonnes of ore during the Quarter compared to 95,629 dry tonnes of ore in the similar period of fiscal 2016, a 13% increase. Overall mill recovery was 85% compared to 87% in second quarter fiscal 2016. Average feed grade during the Quarter was 1.38 grams per tonne ("g/t"), lower than the second quarter of fiscal 2016, but 18% higher than the first quarter of fiscal 2017 and in line with expectations for the remainder of the year.

MINING OPERATIONS
The following table summarizes the key mining operating metrics for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016 and 2015:

The mining operation at the Point Rousse Project operated for 74 days in the Quarter in the Pine Cove Pit. Total production was 129,078 tonnes of ore and 595,668 tonnes of waste for a strip ratio of 4.6 : 1, waste to ore. Total tonnes mined at the Pine Cove Pit was 14% higher compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2016. The increased levels of production through the second quarter of fiscal 2017 resulted in the completion of rock placement for Phase I of Tailings Storage Facility II. Tonnes mined and strip ratio decreased, relative to the first quarter of fiscal 2017, 27% and 44% respectively, and are expected to further reduce during the second half of fiscal 2017.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP financial measures

The Company has included certain non-GAAP financial measures in this document. These measures are not defined under IFRS and should not be considered in isolation. The Company believes that these measures, together with measures determined in accordance with IFRS, provide investors with an improved ability to evaluate the underlying performance of the Company. The inclusion of these measures is meant to provide additional information and should not be used as a substitute for performance measures prepared in accordance with IFRS. These measures are not necessarily standard and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers.

Adjusted net earnings measure the performance of the Company, excluding certain impacts which the Company believes are not reflective of the Company's underlying performance for the reporting period, such as the impact of foreign exchange gains and losses, impairment charges, and non-hedge derivative gains and losses. Although some of the items are recurring, the Company believes that they are not reflective of the underlying operating performance of its current business and are not necessarily indicative of future operating results.

The following table provides a reconciliation of adjusted net earnings for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016 and 2015:

Cash cost per ounce sold is cost of sales from the period before depletion, depreciation and amortization of production stripping assets divided by the number of ounces of gold sold in the period. AISC per ounce includes total cash costs plus the sum of corporate administrative expenses, sustaining capital expenditures, the addition of production stripping assets and certain exploration and evaluation expenses, all divided by the number of ounces sold in the period. This measure seeks to reflect the full cost to sustain the current level of gold production from the Company's operations. Certain other cash expenditures, including income tax payments and financing costs are not included. Certain prior period amounts included in the calculation of AISC have been changed to conform to the presentation adopted in the current period.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash cost per ounce sold and all-in sustaining cash cost per ounce sold for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016 and 2015:

EBITDA is earnings before finance expense, foreign exchange loss (gain), unrealized gain on forward sales contract derivative, share-based compensation, income tax recovery and depreciation and depletion.

Point Rousse Project EBITDA is EBITDA before corporate administration and other expenses.

The following table provides a reconciliation of EBITDA for the three and six months ended November 30, 2016 and 2015:

ABOUT ANACONDA MINING
Anaconda Mining is a growth-oriented, gold mining and exploration company with a producing project called the Point Rousse Project and three exploration/development projects called the Viking and Great Northern Projects and the Tilt Cove Property in Newfoundland.

The Point Rousse Project is approximately 6,300 hectares of property on the Ming's Bight Peninsula located in the Baie Verte Mining District in Newfoundland, Canada. Since 2012, Anaconda has increased its property control by ten-fold on the peninsula and gold production to nearly 16,000 ounces per year. In an effort to expand production, it is currently exploring three primary, prospective gold trends, which have approximately 20 km of cumulative strike length and include five deposits and numerous prospects and showings, all within 8 km of the Pine Cove Mill. A second project called the Tilt Cove Property, consisting of 350 hectares, is located approximately 60 kilometres by road from the Pine Cove Mill but is also within the Baie Verte Mining District and underlain by similar geology to the Point Rousse Project.

Anaconda also controls the Viking and Great Northern Projects, which have approximately 6,225 and 6,375 hectares of property, respectively, in White Bay, Newfoundland, approximately 100 kilometres by water (180 kilometres via road) from the Pine Cove Mill. The Viking Project contains the Thor Deposit and other gold prospects and showings and the Great Northern Project includes numerous prospects and showings within a similar geological setting as the Viking Project. The Company's plan is to discover and develop more resources within these project areas and substantially increase annual production at the Pine Cove Mill from its current rate of nearly 16,000 ounces.

As the only pure play gold producer in Atlantic Canada, Anaconda Mining is turning the rock we live on into a growing and profitable resource. With a young and motivated workforce, innovative technology and the support of local suppliers, Anaconda is investing in the people of Newfoundland & Labrador and giving back to the communities in which we operate – building a better future for all our stakeholders, from the ground up.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains or refers to forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements regarding targets, estimates and/or assumptions in respect of future production, mine development costs, unit costs, capital costs, timing of commencement of operations and future economic, market and other conditions, and is based on current expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to: the final approval of the private placement by the Toronto Stock Exchange; the grade and recovery of ore which is mined varying from estimates; capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates; inflation; changes in exchange rates; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of the any project caused by unavailability of equipment, labour or supplies, climatic conditions or otherwise; termination or revision of any debt financing; failure to raise additional funds required to finance the completion of a project; and other factors. Additionally, forward-looking statements look into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the business. Forward-looking statements may include words such as "plans," "may," "estimates," "expects," "indicates," "targeting," "potential" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Anaconda's beliefs in the potential mineralization, are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no responsibility to update them or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE Anaconda Mining Inc.