The updated mine plan calls for production of approximately 5.9 million oz/y of silver and 94,000 oz/y of gold over a seven-year mine life. Pre-tax net cash flow of $305 million represents a fourfold increase from the $75 million of pretax net cash flow in the previous Palmarejo technical report.

Coeur President and CEO Mitchell J. Krebs said, “The technical report reflects a robust, high-margin mine plan at current metal prices, showing substantial improvements in production, mine life, grades, recoveries, costs, and cash flow compared to the technical report for Palmarejo filed eight months ago. This enhanced plan demonstrates Palmarejo’s transition to ‘quality over quantity’ production and highlights the importance of the Independencia Este deposit. This adjacent orebody carries a silver equivalent reserve grade 17% higher than Guadalupe and is not subject to the Franco-Nevada obligation impacting other areas at Palmarejo.”

The mine plan assumes silver and gold prices of $15.50/oz and $1,150/oz, respectively, for the next two years, followed by longer-term prices of $17.50/oz for silver and $1,250/oz for gold. The mine plan does not include 52.1 million silver equivalent ounces of measured and indicated resources and 16.6 million silver equivalent ounces of inferred resources that carry a silver equivalent grade 7% higher than the reserves. Coeur intends to work to further extend the mine life through delineation of these resources.

Palmarejo’s proven and probable reserves currently stand at 9.45 million st grading 4.90 oz/st silver and 0.075 oz/st gold and containing 46.3 million oz of silver and 707,000 oz of gold.

Subsequent to its release of the updated Palmarejo technical report, Coeur reported discovery of two new mineralized zones, Nación and Los Bancos, in the corridor between the established Guadalupe and Independencia deposits, as well as added mineralization at Guadalupe and Independencia. Given these positive exploration results, Coeur anticipates that its 2016 exploration program at the Palmarejo complex will be about $5 million for expensed drilling and $4 million for capitalized drilling.