San Bartolomé Update and Overview

Transcription

1 Update and Overview May 20-21, 2008

2 Tour Itinerary Refreshments and medical check at operations office Huacajchi mining area overview Process plant and tailings area overview Walk through of process plant Visit to tailings facilities Lunch at historic San Marcos restaurant Return flight to La Paz Dinner at La Suisse restaurant

3 Overview Major component of Coeur s growth strategy Mechanical completion achieved at the end of April 9 million ounces of annualized production 10 million ounces in first 12 months of full production Relative to total company production of 16m oz in m oz of silver mineral reserves (3.64 oz Ag/ton grade) Solid Economics $220 m capital cost Estimated $4.10 cash cost at full production excluding royalties and production taxes of $2.03/oz OPIC PRI insurance Strategic alliance with cooperatives and Comibol

4 Location The operation is located approximately 4 km. south of the city of Potosí. POTOSI

5 History United Nations identified the low-grade San Bartolomé silver resources in 1988 Asarco began evaluation of pallacos in 1990 Coeur acquired the San Bartolomé Project from Asarco in 1999 Coeur s board authorized construction in December 2004 Fluor initiated EPCM in January EPCM activities were reduced from June 2005 until July 2006 due to political and social unrest in Bolivia Mechanical completion achieved end of April 2008

6 Ownership Coeur Empresa Minera Manquiri, S.A. (Wholly owned subsidiary of Coeur) Leases on 67 sq kilometers Royalty 4% Total Subleases on 16,600 acres COMIBOL Ownership of mining rights Leases Cooperatives

7 What is San Bartolomé? Series of silver-bearing gravel deposits (pallacos and sucus) located on the flanks of Cerro Rico de Potosí plus oxide mine dumps and oxide mill tailings Pallacos Deposits of weakly consolidated clastic colluvial or alluvial material Occur around the periphery of the Cerro Rico mountain up to a distance of 8 km from the mountain. Contain low concentrations of silver and tin. Most of the silver is contained in the coarse fragments Sucus Pallacos that have been previously worked to recover tin using smallscale artisan methods.

8 Cerro Rico

9 Deposit Locations and Geology

10 Deposit Locations

11 Mineral Reserves and Resources YEAR END 2007 Mineral Reserves Short Tons (m) San Bartolomé Ag Grade (oz/t) Ag Ounces (contained) Proven Probable Total YEAR END 2007 Mineral Resources (in addition to Mineral Reserves) Short Tons Ag Grade (m) (oz/t) Ag Ounces (contained) Measured Indicated Meas + Ind Inferred g/t (1.46 oz/ton) cut-off grade for mineral resources. $11 US/ounce metal prices for mineral reserves

12 Huacajchi deposits

13 Pallacos Haucajchi Diablo Santa Rita

14 Project Waste Dump

15 Plan & cross section Operation will respect and preserve the geomorphic shape of Cerro Rico Will extract only superficial deposits No explosives No underground mining Minimal visual impact

16 Before and After Views BEFORE AFTER

17 17 San Bartolomé RC Drilling & Sampling HUACAJCHI PERFORACION RC 15, 000 ft of RC drilling and hand-dug pozos 45,000 Ag assays HUACAJCHI POZO EXCAVATION

18 Mining and Processing Maximum mining rate about 8,000 tons per day Ore is free digging no explosives will be used About 5,000 tons per day to grinding circuit after washing and screening Cyanide extraction by agitated leaching with CCD-Merrill Crowe recovery Ag bullion product (>95% Ag) 9 million oz initial annualized production Tailings disposal Conventional lined tailings facility for fines (- 8 mesh) Paste lined tailings facility +14 year Project Life Power from Bolivian grid with 6 km transmission line

19 San Bartolomé Project Layout

20 December 2007 Project Area Tailings Dams Plahipo Offices Tailings Pipeline Pan-American Highway Mill Plahipo Leach Pile Ore Stockpile

21 Process flow sheet

22 Plant Construction February 22, 2008 Merrill Crowe Leach Tanks Transformer Crusher Stockpile

23 Process Plant (April 2008)

24 Tailings layout, 816 Acres N SAN BARTOLOME TAILINGS FACILITIES S Diversion Channel HDPE Liner Paste (Mill) Tailings 27,400,000 tonnes Fine Tailings (-8 mesh screened) 15,000,000 tonnes Storm Water Ponds Lago Phiskho Khocha

25 Tailings Facility Dec. 10, 2007

26 Community Relations

27 Community Impacts Project will generate important sources of new employment During production approximately 250 new jobs, plus about 1,000 indirect jobs will be created (1,250 total) During construction job generation peaked at 2,200 The members of the cooperatives associated with the project will receive royalty payments during production Indigenous community relations Agreements have been negotiated with the indigenous families that will be displaced by the project Manquiri is funding development study for indigenous community Manquiri will provide training & other benefits for affected indigenous communities

28 Alliance with the Mining Cooperatives

29 Community Activities Litter clean up campaigns Industrial Safety workshops for cooperative miners Student art contest Science Fair Sponsorship of Real Potosi professional soccer team Sponsorship of Baroque orchestra concert Organized fundraising campaign to send woman from Potosi to Special Olympics in Shanghai, China

30 Small Business Development Coeur has developed an initiative with the members of the local indigenous community to manufacture 40,000 m 2 of cyclone fencing for the project Local construction companies in Potosi are contracting with the community to provide cyclone fencing from the community for its contracts with the municipal government Coeur also has worked with entrepreneurs from the indigenous community to form earth moving contracting companies and other companies that provide services to the project

31 Summary Key element of Coeur s growth strategy Production underway Excellent community relations strategic alliance with mining cooperatives Robust economics OPIC Insurance

32 Taxes 25% basic corporate income tax rate 7.5% additional mining income tax (60% of 12.5%) 6% NSR Mining royalty 13% VAT tax exempt for construction refundable during operation

33 Coeur San Bartolomé Project UNA NUEVA FORMA DE HACER MINERIA

34 Cautionary Statement This presentation contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in the United States, Canada, and Australia, including statements regarding anticipated operating results. Such statements are subject to numerous assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside the control of Coeur. Operating, exploration and financial data, and other statements in this press release are based on information that Coeur believes is reasonable, but involve significant uncertainties affecting the business of Coeur, including, but not limited to, future gold and silver prices, costs, ore grades, estimation of gold and silver reserves, mining and processing conditions, construction schedules, currency exchange rates, and the completion and/or updating of mining feasibility studies, changes that could result from future acquisitions of new mining properties or businesses, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), regulatory and permitting matters, risks inherent in the ownership and operation of, or investment in, mining properties or businesses in foreign countries, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors set out in filings made from time to time with the SEC, the Canadian securities regulators, and the Australian Securities Exchange, including, without limitation, Coeur s reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coeur disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, Coeur undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Coeur, its financial or operating results or its securities. Donald J. Birak, Coeur's Senior Vice President of Exploration, is the qualified person responsible for the preparation of the scientific and technical information concerning Coeur's mineral projects in this presentation. For a description of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate mineral reserves and resources, as well as a general discussion of the extent to which the estimates may be affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant factors, please see the Technical Reports for each of Coeur's properties as filed on SEDAR at Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this presentation, such as measured, indicated, and inferred resources, which the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K which may be secured from us, or from the SEC s website at