Troilus Mine (Frotet)

Inmet Mining reported that te Troilus mine in Quebec continued to process ore from its low-grade stockpile after it finished mining the 87 pit in April 2009. This lowered gold grades and production compared to 2009, and reduced the cost per tonne of ore milled. Ore stockpiles were frozen well into May requiring drilling and blasting and therefore affected mill throughput. Troilus reached the milestone of producing 2 million ounces of gold on June 16 and ceased milling operations at the end of June due to the depletion of all surface ore stockpiles. Production was at a record high in the first two months of 2009 because of the high grade of the ore mined from the bottom of the main 87 pit.

Inmet Minining Corporation announced third quarter results. Third quarter earnings of Can$1.10 per share compared with $1.55 per share in the third quarter of 2008 were reported. Sales were comparable to the same period last year as lower sales volumes offset higher metal prices. Higher copper, zinc and gold prices increased sales by Can$35 million this quarter compared to the same quarter in 2008. This was offset somewhat by lower sales volumes, which reduced sales by Can$34 million, of which Can$16 million was due to reduced pyrite sales volumes. Cost of sales in the third quarter of 2009 were $12 million lower than they were last year mainly because Troilus is now only processing stockpiles and costs are lower at Çayeli. Las Cruces copper production was lower than planned. Two Thousand-two hundred (2,200) tonnes of copper cathode was produced during the third quarter at Las Cruces. This was significantly below expectations, and the company states this was the result of typical start-up issues encountered during the commissioning stage. Inmet does not expect any of these issues to affect the long-term performance of the plant.

Inmet reported on Troilus Mine operations for the quarter ended Mar31/09. Troilus had record production in the first two months of the year because of the high grade of the ore it mined from the main 87 pit. As we were mining the final benches of the pit, we expected challenges with the stability of the pit walls. By the end of February and into March those concerns caused us to frequently suspend activities, which impacted production. At the end of March, the pit wall had deteriorated to the point where Inmet decided to permanently withdraw from the pit bottom and resulted in a net loss in reserves of about 2,600 ounces. Stockpile recovery will begin in May, lowering production costs. Inmet expects mill throughput of 6.2 million tonnes for the year at average grades of 0.8 grams per tonne gold and 0.11 percent copper, which should produce 132,200 ounces of gold and 6,000 tonnes of copper. Layoffs of mining and maintenance personnel began at the end of March and will continue once the primary reclamation activities and pit clean up are completed.