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CAPSTONE COPPER NEWS RELEASE . TSX : CS capstonecopper.com Capstone Beats 2020 Production and Cost Guidance February 24 , 2021 VANCOUVER , British Columbia - ( All amounts in US $ unless otherwise specified ) Capstone Mining Corp. ( “ Capstone ” or the “ Company ” ) ( TSX : CS ) announces its production and financial results for the three months ( " Q4 2020 " ) and year ended December 31 , 2020 ( " YTD 2020 " ) . Copper production totaled 156.9 million pounds of copper at consolidated C1 cash costs 1 of $ 1.84 per payable pound produced . Link HERE for Capstone's Q4 2020 management's discussion and analysis ( " MD & A ” ) and financial statements and HERE for the webcast presentation . This press release features multimedia . View the full release here : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210224005371/en/ Figure 1 - Cozamin One - way Ramp Ready for Higher Mining Rates . Ramp - up of mill processing to 3,780 tpd by the end of Figure 1 - Cozamin One - way Ramp Ready for Higher Mining Rates . Ramp - up of mill processing to 3,780 tpd by the end of Q1 2021 is on track . ( Graphic : Business Wire ) " Last quarter we saw outperformance at both operations delivering operating cash flow of $ 67 million , which marks the beginning of very strong financial metrics across the business , moving forward in this current $ 4.00 copper price environment , " said Darren Pylot , President and CEO of Capstone . “ Now that the silver stream is closed , we are in a net cash position and are on track to be debt free in 2021 , allowing cash flow to be deployed to high - impact , high - return projects like paste backfill at Cozamin and Eriez HydroFloat coarse particle flotation at Pinto Valley . The pathway to financing Santo Domingo is progressing well with advanced discussions on a port deal , a gold stream and a strategic partnership . " HIGHLIGHTS AND SIGNIFICANT ITEMS Results Exceed 2020 Production and Cost Guidance Capstone exceeded both production and cost guidance for 2020 ; finishing the year at 156.9 million pounds of copper production above the guidance range of 140 to 155 million pounds , at consolidated C1 cash costs 1 of $ 1.84 per payable pound of copper , below the guidance range of $ 1.85 to $ 2.00 per pound . Cozamin 50 % Silver Stream Results in Net Cash1 Position In December 2020 , the Company announced a Cozamin Silver Stream Agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ( " Wheaton " ) , effective December 1 , 2020. On February 19 , 2021 , the Company announced all conditions to complete the Stream Agreement have been fulfilled and Capstone has received $ 150 million from Wheaton for 50 % of the silver production until 10 million ounces have been delivered , thereafter dropping to 33 % of silver production , for the life of mine . On closing , the Company was in a net cash 1 position of $ 25 million , based on the year end net debt balance of $ 124.9 million . PV3 Optimization Phase 1 Delivers 10 % Sustainable Throughput Improvement Compared to 2019 PV3 Optimization kicked off in 2020 with Phase 1 work completed in 2020. Phase 1 work included improved blast fragmentation processes , installation of a new secondary crushers and screen decks as well as a new mill shell . Pinto Valley achieved throughput of 57,168 tonnes per day ( " tpd " ) in Q4 2020 , showing a 10 % sustainable improvement Page 1