Comstock Mining has $25M in revenue

VIRGINIA CITY — Revenue of $24.8 million and a significant drop in annual net losses were among 2013 results reported Tuesday by Comstock Mining Inc.

In its first full year of operations, the company said, it produced 186,482 ounces of silver and 17,739 ounces of gold, or a total of 20,815 gold equivalent ounces, thereby exceeding guidance about production. The firm said it also secured a new, lower cost $5 million revolving credit facility, which will be used for working capital to ramp up production and expand the Lucerne Mine.

Net losses for the year reached $21.3 million, down $9.5 million from $30.8 million loss reported in 2012. The drop was due to lower operating expenses coupled with higher annual revenues.

The mining firm said it now owns or controls 7,447 acres of mining claims and parcels in the Comstock Mining District, which is a 26 percent increase from 2012 holdings.

Under current plans, the company envisions a doubling to 40,000 in ounces produced during this calendar year.

“Once stabilized at the 40,000 ounce per annum run rate,” the firm said in the financial report news release, “the operating expenses per ounce mined will be significantly lower in 2014 than in 2013.”

Cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of last year totaled $2.4 million. Total long-term debt and capital lease obligations on Dec. 31, 2013 were $7.9 million, compared with $13.7 million a year earlier, the firm said.

Comstock Mining trades under the symbol LODE on the New York Stock Exchange, and shares closed Tuesday at $1.94, down four cents.