Trevali reports 2015 annual financial results

Press Release

March 30, 2016

EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $12 million, Revenues $106.4 million and Net Loss of $14.3 million

Vancouver, British Columbia – Trevali Mining Corporation (“Trevali” or the “Company”) (TSX: TV; BVL: TV; OTCQX: TREVF; Frankfurt: 4TI) has released its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015 reporting annual Santander Zinc Mine operations income of $6.7 million on concentrate sales revenue of $106.4 million, and resulted in a net loss of $14.3 million ($0.05 per share).

This release should be read in conjunction with Trevali’s audited annual consolidated financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2015, which is available on Trevali’s website and on SEDAR. All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.

2015 Annual Results Highlights:

• Santander concentrate sales revenue of $106.4 million
• EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $12 million
• Income from Santander mine operations of $6.7 million
• Net loss of $14.3 million or ($0.05) per share
• 2015 Santander site cash costs⁽²⁾ of US$0.33 per pound of payable Zinc Equivalent (“ZnEq”)⁽³⁾ produced or US$42.65/tonne milled, beating the Company’s revised 2015 year-end guidance of US$46-48 per tonne milled
• Annual production of 54.1 million payable pounds of zinc, 30.2 million payable pounds of lead and 1.1 million payable ounces of silver, exceeding production guidance for the year
• Provisional realized commodity selling prices for Santander 2015 production was US$0.84 per pound zinc, US$0.77 per pound lead and US$15.67 per ounce silver respectively at International Benchmark terms under the Company’s offtake agreement with Glencore
• Santander mill recoveries remain higher than design at 90% for Zn, 89% for Pb and 77% for Ag

Q4-2015 Highlights:

• Record quarterly Santander mill throughput of 204,999 tonnes
• Quarterly production of 13.1 million payable pounds of zinc, 6.3 million payable pounds of lead and 0.22 million payable ounces of silver
• Q4-2015 Santander site cash costs⁽²⁾ of US$0.32 per pound of payable Zinc Equivalent (“ZnEq”)⁽³⁾ produced or US$38.70/tonne milled
• Q4-2015 EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of ($1.9 million) and loss from Santander mine operations of $2.3 million

“We remain pleased with the continued strong operational results from our Santander zinc mine where we’ve seen ongoing efficiencies realized throughout 2015 despite a weakened commodity price climate during the second half of the year,” stated Dr. Mark Cruise, Trevali’s President and CEO. “The Company currently has in excess of $20 million in the treasury and continues to advance the commissioning of the Caribou zinc mine, which when in full production is anticipated to substantially boost the Company’s zinc output and position the Company to benefit from forecast increases in the zinc price looking forward. Year-to-date zinc remains one of the best performing metals and annual 2016 smelter Treatment Charges have decreased materially, having reversed approximately 80% of its 2012-2015 gains in a single year, reflecting a tightening global zinc concentrate market. It is noteworthy that global zinc supply is on-track to decrease by record levels in both absolute tonnages and percentage-wise in 2016, which general consensus suggests should result in very material strengthening in zinc prices going forward.”

2015 Financial Results Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call and audio webcast at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time (7:30 a.m. Pacific Time) on Thursday, March 31, 2016 to review the 2015 annual financial results. Participants are advised to dial in 5-to-10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the call.

Conference call dial-in details:
Toll-free (North America): 1-866-223-7781
Toronto and international: 1-416-340-2216
Audio Webcast: http://www.gowebcasting.com/7412

Summary Financial Results ($ millions, except per-share amounts)

Santander Production Statistics

Santander Sales Summary:

(1) EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is calculated by considering Company’s earnings before interest payments, tax, depreciation, and amortization are subtracted for any final accounting of its income and expenses. The EBITDA of a business gives an indication of its current operational profitability and is a NON-IFRS measure.

(2) Refer to Non-IFRS Measures in the December 31, 2015 Management Discussion and Analysis.

(3) ZnEq Payable Pounds Produced = ((Zn Payable lbs Produced x Zn Price)+(Pb Payable lbs Produced x Pb Price)+(Cu Payable lbs Produced x Cu Price)+(Au oz Payable Produced x Au Price)+(Ag oz Payable Produced x Ag Price))/Zn Price.

(4) ZnEq Payable Pounds Sold = ((Zn Payable lbs Sold x Zn Price)+(Pb Payable lbs Sold x Pb Price)+(Cu Payable lbs Sold x Cu Price)+(Au oz Payable Sold x Au Price)+(Ag oz Payable Sold x Ag Price))/Zn Price. (All metal prices are the average realized metal price for the period).

(5) Revenues include prior quarter’s adjustment.

Santander Operations, Peru

Santander achieved outstanding operational results in 2015. The Company exceeded expected production guidance for the year, which was estimated at approximately 48-50 million pounds of payable zinc, 23-25 million pounds of payable lead and 850,000-950,000 ounces of payable silver, achieving actual production results of 54.1 million pounds of payable zinc, 30.2 million pounds of payable lead and 1,055,965 ounces of payable silver. Estimated 2015 cash costs of US$48-51 per tonne milled was also bettered, coming in at US$42.65 per tonne milled for the year (2014 – US$47.33). The decrease in per tonne costs is due to higher mill throughput and continued cost optimization throughout 2015 versus 2014. In addition, many of the cost and optimization savings were realized in the renegotiations of key contracts, fuel and power for the mine and mill. (2)
The mill continued to perform at above design recoveries averaging 90% for zinc, 89% for lead and 77% for silver. Mill throughput for the year was 778,151 tonnes. Average head grades were 4.14% Zinc (Zn), 2.09% Lead (Pb) and 1.66 oz/ton Silver (Ag) with production of 58,232 tonnes of zinc concentrate averaging 50% Zn and 24,962 tonnes of lead-silver concentrate averaging 58% Pb and 40 oz/ton Ag.

During the year, the Company sold approximately 52.9 million pounds, 30.4 million pounds, and 1.1 million ounces of zinc, lead and silver respectively. Annual revenues were approximately US$83.2 million, with average realized metal prices for the year of US$0.84 per pound of zinc, US$0.77 per pound of lead and US$15.67 per ounce of silver.

The Company also received additional assay results for 10 holes from its 2015 resource definition and expansion program (see March 22, 2016 – TV-NR-16-07 news release). Drilling intersected high-grade zinc mineralization and successfully expanded the Magistral Central and South zones: intercepts ranged from 5 to 15 metres downhole thickness (est. at 85-95% of true width) with grades ranging from 4.09 to 11.5% Zn, 0.04 to 3.2% Pb and 5.6 to 71 g/t/ Ag.

Significantly, the results to date suggest that mineralization width and grade is increasing at depth and that the Magistral South and Central zones have merged into a single zone based on results to date (at depth). The area sits above and is spatially associated with a very large, strong geophysical anomaly (Down-Hole Electromagnetic anomaly approximately 300-by-300 metre modelled conductive plate) that extends at least an additional 150-200 metres deeper than current drilling and remains open to the north, south, east and at depth.

Outlook

Santander operations continue at steady state 2,000 tonne-per-day nameplate production. The Company continues to work with partner, Glencore’s local subsidiary, Empresa Minera Los Quenuales S.A. (“Los Quenuales”), to maximize and improve operational efficiencies.

The preliminary 2016 production guidance estimate for the Santander zinc mine is:

Site cash costs for 2016 are estimated at approximately US$40-US$43 per tonne milled (please see Cautionary Note on Forward Looking Statements at the end of this document).

In addition, an approximate 3,000-metre underground drill program is planned for the first half of 2016, which is anticipated to convert inferred tonnes to a higher confidence category and to follow-up on 2015 exploration successes. Contingent on results, additional drilling may occur. The program will continue to define and potentially expand the recently discovered Rosa and Fatima lead-silver-zinc zones in addition to the Magistral zones, all of which remain open for expansion at depth.

In Canada, the Company continues to focus on the ongoing commissioning of its Caribou zinc mine and mill to achieve design throughputs from both the mine and mill, including associated recoveries and concentrate quality. The Company will continue to provide regular updates until declaration of commercial production, which based on progress to date is currently estimated to occur in mid-year 2016.

Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance
EurGeol Dr. Mark D. Cruise, Trevali’s President and CEO, and Paul Keller, P.Eng, Trevali’s Chief Operating Officer, are qualified persons as defined by NI 43-101, have supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Dr. Cruise is not independent of the Company as he is an officer, director and shareholder. Mr. Keller is not independent of the Company as he is an officer and shareholder.

ABOUT TREVALI MINING CORPORATION
Trevali is a zinc-focused, base metals mining company with one producing operation in Peru and another currently undergoing commissioning in Canada.

In Peru, the Company is actively producing zinc and lead-silver concentrates from its 2,000-tonne-per-day Santander zinc mine.

In Canada, Trevali owns the Caribou zinc mine and mill, Halfmile mine and Stratmat deposit all located in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northern New Brunswick. The Company is currently commissioning its 3,000-tonne-per-day Caribou zinc mine.

All of the Company’s deposits remain open for expansion.

The common shares of Trevali are listed on the TSX (symbol TV), the OTCQX (symbol TREVF), the Frankfurt Exchange (symbol 4TI) and on the Lima Stock Exchange (symbol TV). For further details on Trevali, readers are referred to the Company’s website (www.trevali.com) and to Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
TREVALI MINING CORPORATION
“Mark D. Cruise” (signed)
Mark D. Cruise, President

Contact Information:
Steve Stakiw
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Email: sstakiw@trevali.com
Phone: (604) 488-1661 / Direct: (604) 638-5623

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