ASTURIAS, Spain - Rio Narcea Gold Mines has reported record gold production of 103,785 ounces for 1999 representing an increase of 77% over 1998 results. During the same period cash costs were reduced from US$221 to US$185 per ounce. Rio Narcea anticipates annual production of 122,000 ounces during 2000.

The El Valle Mine was commissioned in 1998 and the original flowsheet included a newly developed pressurized mineral jig, which was expected to recover free gold, and more importantly, native copper, prior to the downstream CIL circuit. When the jig failed to meet recovery expectations, a fully automated Knelson XD30 Concentrator was installed to maximize free gold recovery and a spiral circuit was installed to recover native copper. Since making these circuit modifications, gravity recovery for both gold and copper have been increased to ~25% from 2% and 4% respectively.