FNX ships 1.25 million tons of ore in 2008

2009-02-19 10:25 ET - News Release

Mr. Terry MacGibbon reports

FNX MINING REPORTS UNAUDITED 2008 OPERATING RESULTS

FNX Mining Company Inc. has released its operating results for fiscal year 2008 from its 100-per-cent-owned Sudbury operations. \

The company shipped a record 1,255,987 tons of ore from the Levack complex (Levack and McCreedy West mines) and the Podolsky operations, including 573,306 tons of copper-precious metal footwall ore and 682,681 tons of nickel contact ore.

In total, the Levack complex shipped 682,681 tons of nickel contact ore and 330,067 tons of copper-precious metal footwall ore for a total output of 1,012,748 tons in 2008.

This compares with total tons shipped from the Levack complex in 2007 of 926,881 tons of ore. The Podolsky mine shipped 243,239 tons from the copper-precious metal 2000 deposit. The Podolsky mine was not in commercial production in 2007.

Payable metals for 2008 totalled 13.1 million pounds of nickel, a record 35.2 million pounds of copper, 166,027 pounds of cobalt, 18,495 ounces of platinum, 24,182 ounces of palladium and 9,357 ounces of gold. This compares with payable metals in 2007 of 12.2 million pounds of nickel, 9.6 million pounds of copper, 157,557 pounds of cobalt, 7,855 ounces of platinum, 13,066 ounces of palladium and 3,459 ounces of gold.

The initial 2008 production plan forecast called for shipment of 1.45 million tons of ore and 15.5 million pounds of payable nickel, 44.3 million pounds of payable copper, 173,000 pounds of cobalt, 21,400 ounces of platinum, 28,900 ounces of palladium and 8,500 ounces of gold. The reduction in tons shipped and payable metal produced was due to the company's reaction to dramatically declining commodity prices during the year, which resulted in lower production at the Levack mine and ultimately the suspension of nickel ore mining late in 2008.

Operating results for 2008 exclude the proceeds from a 10,683-ton preproduction bulk sample removed from the Levack footwall deposit (LFD) via the 4,000 level crosscut from the Craig mine early in 2008 and sent to a custom mill for processing. Net proceeds from the LFD bulk sample were credited against the LFD capital.

Guidance for 2009 production and capital expenditures from FNX's Sudbury operations was provided in Stockwatch Feb. 6, 2009.

Fourth quarter 2008 unaudited financial results and conference call

Fourth quarter 2008 unaudited financial results will be released before market opening on Wednesday, March 11, 2009,

and a conference call to discuss the results will be held at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on the same day.

Details of the conference call are:

Live in North America 416-641-6136, toll-free access: 1-866-223-7781. Ask for "FNX Mining Conference Call." Replay access information, toll-free access 1-800-408-3053 or 416-695-5800, passcode 3283162 followed by the number sign. It is available until April 13, 2009, at midnight.

Slides for the conference call may be accessed March 11, 2009, on FNX's website. There will be no transcript of the conference call available.

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