Robinson Mine To Produce 140M Pounds Of Copper

VANCOUVER, BC - Quadra Mining Ltd., President Paul Blythe, reported that, "Revenues were derived from two operations this quarter with the Robinson Mine continuing to dominate revenues, generating $97 million from the sale of 34 million pounds of copper and 30 thousand ounces of gold, and the Carlota Mine beginning to contribute with its first shipment of copper cathodes made in February. Robinson's revenues from concentrate sales benefited from the increase in the copper price which rose from $1.33/lb at year-end to $1.83/lb at end of the first quarter. This resulted in positive pricing adjustments of $14 million related to fourth quarter 2008 sales."

"First quarter production results at both operations were in line with mine plan estimates and are on track to meet 2009 guidance of 140 million pounds of copper and 100,000 ounces of gold at Robinson and 50 million pounds of copper at Carlota. As required under our revised Robinson mine plan that we announced in January, during the quarter we commenced mining activity in the Kimbley and Wedge pit areas of Ruth. The transition to the new pit area, which included relocation of the large shovel and other equipment, resulted in lower than normal waste tons mined. This reduction in stripping, coupled with strong gold by-product credits, were the major contributors to a very low cash cost of $0.80 per pound of copper produced in the first quarter. However, our annual cost guidance remains unchanged and we still expect Robinson's 2009 unit costs to be in the range of $1.30 per pound. Production at Carlota continues to ramp up on schedule and as stated previously, the focus going forward is to put the Pinto Robinson is an open pit copper and gold mine located in White Pine County, Nevada approximately 11 km west of Ely.

The mine is currently operating at full production and is generating positive cash flow. It produces copper concentrate and by product gold and some molybdenum. The concentrate is sold to a number of international and domestic smelters and traders.

The Robinson Mining District was founded in 1867 when several underground gold and silver mining operations where established, by the early 1900's the first copper production commenced. From this time Kennecott Copper Corporation operated both underground and open pit operations and associated processing facilities. Production reported from 1908 to 1978 was more than 4 billion pounds of copper and 2.7 million ounces of gold. Magma Copper acquired the properties in 1991. Magma was subsequently purchased by BHP Ltd (" BHP Copper") in 1997.

The Robinson Mine as it exists today was built in 1994 through 1996 for approximately $480 million and ran until operations were suspended by BHP Copper in 1999 due to low commodity prices (60› per pound copper and $260 per ounce gold). . Quadra purchased the mine from BHP Billiton in April 2004, and immediately recommenced operations, reaching full production in October 2004 more than two months ahead of schedule and following capital upgrades to the process plant facility. The mine mobile equipment had been reassigned to another BHP Billiton project and was replaced with new equipment.

The current mine infrastructure consists three large open pits; Liberty (previously mined out by BHP Copper), Tripp-Veteran, and Ruth, a conventional process plant with SAG and ball mill grinding followed by floatation. A molybdenum recovery circuit was constructed by Quadra and entered operations in December 2005.

Robinson has operated continuously since 2005 producing on average, 121 to 126 million pounds per year of copper. In 2006, mining transitioned from the Tripp to the Veteran pit and the mine produced 121.4 million pounds of copper, 75,074 ounces of gold and 260,000 pounds of molybdenum. In 2007, the mine produced 131.9 million pounds of copper and approximately 108,000 ounces of gold and production for 2008 was a historical record for the mine for both copper and gold. Robinson produced 159.7 million pounds of copper in 2008 and 137,628 ounces of gold.

The reserves at Robinson as of January 1st 2008 were 103 Mt containing 0.68% copper and 0.23 g/t gold.Creek diversion in place, which will result in lower head grades in 2009."

The Carlota Mine is a heap leach -- SX-EW operation in the west end of the Miami-Globe mining district of east-central Arizona. Production of copper cathode at the Carlota Mine commenced in December 2008.

From the early 1900's to the late 1980's, Carlota saw some minor underground mining and underwent exploration and assessment activities by a series of owners. In 1991 Cambior acquired the property and began to development studies towards feasibility and permitting. Cambior spent approximately $68 million and almost 14 years moving the Carlota project through permitting and feasibility studies in readiness for commencement of construction.

Quadra acquired Carlota from Cambior Inc in late 2005. Following a project review that included infill drilling, engineering studies, detailed cost estimation and infrastructure development, Quadra produced an updated NI 43-101 technical report and received Board of Directors approval to proceed with development in November 2006.

In early 2007, the net proceeds of a US$200 million term loan were secured to fund the construction and development of the Carlota Project. Construction was completed on budget and on schedule during the third quarter of 2008 and the first copper cathode was produced in December 2008.

Paul Blythe continues; "In April we closed the acquisition of Centenario Copper Corporation and their Franke project, a heap-leach SX-EW in northern Chile with a plant design capacity of approximately 66 million pounds per year of cathode copper. In order to fund Franke's development we completed a $68 million equity raise in April, and are continuing to negotiate the $37.5 million project loan facility."

"Prior to the acquisition of Centenario, construction of the Franke Mine facilities had been substantially completed, however, Centenario's project funding issues had delayed mechanical completion and commencement of mining at the level required to meet the original schedule. Commissioning has now commenced, including crushing and water testing of the SX/ EW plant. The mining contractor is currently preparing crushed rock overliner for the leach pad and is drilling on the ore body for final definition of underground workings, after which stripping will commence. There are always risks and challenges in the start-up phase, however we believe these can be managed and expect that the operation will start ramping up by the middle of the year. A new optimized schedule and mine plan is being developed, as is an exploration programme."

Paul Blythe concludes; "The copper market is beginning to find some support as economic stimulus programs are announced and as some of the less well understood drivers, particularly scrap metal, come into play. We are cautiously optimistic that there will be a resumption of growth with an increase in end-use demand, particularly in China. Within a few months, Quadra will have three producing mines and with a strong balance sheet, we believe that the Company is well positioned to sell copper into the rising market that we expect to see going forward."

The company s address is Suite 2414, Four Bentall Centre, 1055 Dunsmuir Street, P.O. Box 49185, Vancouver, BC V7X 1K8, 604-689-8550, fax: 604-689-8556.