Recent News: Coeur Announces Issuance of Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Kensington Gold Project

Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation has announced the issuance of the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the company's Kensington gold project in Alaska. The draft SEIS was prepared by the U. S. Forest Service and released on January 23, 2004.

"Receiving the draft SEIS is an important milestone for Kensington and brings Coeur a major step closer to completing the permitting phase of the project," said Dennis E. Wheeler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The issuance of this important document required a coordinated and cooperative effort among a number of government agencies, with the U.S. Forest Service acting as the lead agency. The State of Alaska Large Mine Permit Team and Governor Murkowski and his administration have also been extremely instrumental in the success of this program."

A final pre-feasibility study was completed for the project in late 2003. This identified significant capital and operating costs savings. Coeur estimates production averaging 100,000 ounces of gold per year at an average cash operating cost of approximately $ 195 per ounce. The company expects to receive all major permits by June 2004, followed by a construction decision. Mine construction would take 18 months, with potential production start-up as soon as 2006.

The Kensington gold project is located approximately 45 miles north of Juneau, Alaska and contains 1.8 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves and 1.4 million ounces of resources. Coeur believes significant exploration potential exists at Kensington that could materially increase the project's total resources.

Fundamental Considerations: Production and Reserves

During 2002, company-wide silver production increased 36 percent to a record 14.8 million ounces at a cash operating cost of $ 2.89 per ounce of silver. Gold production was up

22 percent to 117,000 ounces.

In 2003, Coeur anticipates another record year of silver production, as well as continued exploration success at its high-grade silver/gold mines in Chile and Argentina, and a renewed focus on growth through acquisitions.

The company is also in the advanced development stage at its major San Bartolomé, Bolivia, silver project.

The company entered 2003 with proven and probable reserves of 75.0 million ounces of silver and 2.3 million ounces of gold.

The company emerged this year from a major restructuring, with debt reduced 75 percent, a new generation of mines in operation, consolidated operating costs reduced, and an improved cash flow.

Silver is in demand because it has a number of unique properties including its strength, malleability and ductility, its electrical and thermal conductivity, its sensitivity to and high reflectance of light and the ability to endure extreme temperature ranges. Silver’s unique properties restrict its substitution in most applications. Choose from the following list to learn more about some of the various applications of silver:

Electrical and Electronics

Silver is the best electrical conductor of all metals and is hence used in many electrical applications, particularly in conductors, switches, contacts and fuses. Contacts, a junction between two conductors that can be separated and through which a current can flow, account for the largest proportion of electrical demand. Silver is invaluable in the manufacture of circuit breakers and motor controls.

In electronics, silver is also widely used. Uses include silk-screened circuit paths, membrane switches, electrically heated automobile windows, and conductive adhesives. Every time a home owner turns on a microwave oven, dishwasher, clothes washer, or television set, the action activates a switch with silver contacts that completes the required electrical circuit.
 

Medical Applications

While silver's importance as a bactericide has been documented only since the late 1800s, its use in purification has been known throughout the ages. Early records indicate that the Phoenicians, for example, used silver vessels to keep water, wine and vinegar pure during their long voyages. In America, pioneers moving west put silver and copper coins in their water barrels to keep it clean.

In fact, "born with a silver spoon in his mouth" is not a reference to wealth, but to health. In the early 18th century, babies who were fed with silver spoons were healthier than those fed with spoons made from other metals, and silver pacifiers found wide use in America because of their beneficial health effects.

Silver also has a variety of uses in pharmaceuticals. In fact, silver sulfadiazine is the most powerful compound for burn treatment. It is used by every hospital in North America for burn victims to kill bacteria and allow the body to naturally restore the burn area. It is used world-wide. In another application polyurethane central venus catheters are impregnated with silver sulfadiazine and chlorhexidine to eliminate catheter-related bacteria.

In a world concerned with the spreading of disease, silver is increasingly being tapped for its bactericidal viruses do not respond to bactericides, only bacteria do, as they do to antibiotics properties and is used in the treatment of conditions ranging from severe burns to Legionnaires’ Disease.

Water Purification

Silver is employed as a bactericide and algaecide in an ever-increasing number of water purification systems in hospitals, remote communities and, more recently, domestic households. Silver ions have been used to purify drinking water and swimming pool water for generations. New research into silver compounds is providing physicians with powerful, clinically effective treatments against which bacteria cannot develop resistance.

Photography

When Joseph Nicephore Niepce created the first photographic image obtained through a camera-like device in 1813, it was silver nitrate that made it possible.

Although digital photography is increasing, silver-based photography will retain its pre-eminence due to its superior definition and low cost. An estimated 230 million troy ounces of silver were used worldwide in 2000 for photographic purpose.

William Conrad Roentgen's discovery of x-rays in 1895, led to his discovery that they activate silver halide crystals. This revolutionized medical diagnosis. Radiographic use of silver worldwide consumed 78 million troy ounces in 2000. Medical uses aside, X-ray inspection is essential to ensure integrity of metallic castings from small truck axles to the huge aircraft-carrier steam valves used to propel airplanes from a flight deck. Of all the inspection techniques, it is the image on a silver halide x-ray film that provides the clearest indication of flaws deep within metallic components.
 

Batteries

The silver battery provides the higher voltages and long life required for quartz watches. In fact, over 1.4 billion silver oxide-zinc batteries are supplied to world markets yearly, including miniature sized batteries for watches, cameras, and small electronic devices and larger batteries for tools and commercial portable TV cameras.
 

Coins

23,851,873 ounces of silver were issued in the form of silver coins in 1995.
 

Bearings

Steel bearings electroplated with high purity silver have greater fatigue strength and load carrying capacity than any other type and are hence used in various hi-tech and heavy-duty applications.
 

Jewelry and Silverware

Silver possesses working qualities similar to gold, but enjoys greater reflectivity and can achieve the most brilliant polish of any metal. To make it durable for jewelry, however, pure silver (999 fineness) is often alloyed with small quantities of copper. In many countries, sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper) is the standard for silverware and has been since the 14th century.
 

The copper toughens the silver and makes it possible to use sterling silver for cutlery, bowls and other decorative items such as picture frames.
 

Brazing and Soldering

In 2000, 38 million ounces of silver were used for brazing and soldering in industrial and electronics applications.
 

Catalysts

A worldwide inventory of some 23 million ounces of silver are in daily use for catalytic oxidation in chemical reactors, principally in the plastic industry.
 

Electroplating

The ease of electrodeposition of silver accounts for silver’s widespread use in coating. The plating thickness of some items, such as fuse caps, is less than one micron. Coatings of two to seven microns are normal for heavy-duty electrical equipment.
 

Solar Energy

Silver paste is used in 90 percent of all crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, which are the most common solar cell. All silicon cells used in space to power satellites utilize silver in the form of evaporated metal to make the electrical contact.

Technical Considerations

Both gold and silver are in the process of surging above their multi-year resistance level. While it may take time to leave this level behind, we remain confident about the eventual outcome.