TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 16, 2012) - Lundin Mining Corporation (TSX:LUN)(OMX:LUMI) ("Lundin Mining" or the "Company") reports the following production results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011:

Wholly-owned operations
 (tonnes) 		FY
2011 		Q4
2011 		FY
2010 		Q4
2010
Copper 75,877 27,488 80,035 24,908
Zinc 111,445 27,053 90,129 23,482
Lead 41,130 9,273 39,568 9,470
Nickel - - 6,296 1,062

The figures above do not include the Company's attributable share of copper and cobalt production from the Tenke Fungurume mine, pending public release of those statistics by the operator, Freeport McMoRan.

Paul Conibear, President and CEO commented, "As expected, the fourth quarter was our best quarter of the year. Copper production for the quarter from our own operations exceeded expectations while zinc and lead approximated latest guidance. The Neves-Corvo mine finished the year very strongly. Both Zinkgruvan and Neves-Corvo continued to mine and mill record tonnes with an improving safety record. Our staff have responded very well to issues experienced earlier in the year, providing an excellent basis heading into 2012."

The results by mine are as follows:

(contained tonnes) 2011 Production
Results 		2011 Production
Guidance 		2010 Actual
Production
Neves-Corvo Cu 74,109 70,000 74,011
Zn 4,227 4,500 6,422
Zinkgruvan Zn 75,147 76,000 72,206
Pb 32,339 34,000 36,636
Cu 1,768 1,500 540
Galmoy Zn 32,071 31,000 11,501
(in ore) Pb 8,791 8,000 2,932
Aguablanca Ni nil nil 6,296
Cu nil nil 5,484
Total: Wholly-owned operations Cu 75,877 71,500 80,035
Zn 111,445 111,500 90,129
Pb 41,130 42,000 39,568
Ni nil nil 6,296

Operational Commentary

  • Neves-Corvo: Higher grade stopes averaging 3.4% copper and the utilization of the zinc plant for copper ore processing in the fourth quarter helped make up for shortfalls resulting from issues that hampered production earlier in 2011. The newly expanded zinc plant that was temporarily converted to copper ore processing in August 2011 has now been converted back to zinc processing.
    Of particular note is the achievement of another annual tonnage record. In 2010, operations hoisted approximately 2.6 million tonnes of ore and 0.8 million tonnes of waste. In 2011, operations hoisted more than 3.2 million tonnes of ore and 1.0 million tonnes of waste. Total hoisting and milling was up 25% compared to the previous year. For five consecutive years, Neves-Corvo has exceeded the previous year's mined and milled tonnages.
  • Zinkgruvan: Despite down time late in October to complete maintenance on the zinc grinding mill, Zinkgruvan finished 2011 with its best quarter of zinc and copper production of the year. Zinkgruvan also achieved another annual zinc and copper metal production record. Operations mined and milled approximately 1.0 million tonnes of ore in 2010 and 1.1 million in 2011, which represents a new record in the history of the mine.
  • Aguablanca: The new mining contractor continued pre-stripping operations throughout the fourth quarter. Restart of open pit operations and first concentrate production is scheduled for late in 2012.
  • Galmoy: Mining production from remnant ores exceeded expectations for the year. Mining of residual ores is expected to cease during the first quarter of 2012. The mine closure plan has been approved by regulatory authorities and remains on schedule to be completed prior to the end of 2012.
  • Safety: It is notable that in addition to achieving record tonnages mined and milled, the Company also achieved a significant improvement in safety performance. In 2011, Total Recordable Incident Frequency ("TRIF") was the lowest in the Company's history at 1.61. This is a TRIF reduction of more than 50% compared to 2010. A similar reduction was achieved in the frequency of Lost Time Incidents. The improvement in our safety performance over the last two years is attributed to the implementation of a safety system modernization program and a commendable effort to improve safety across the Company.

2011 Operating Statistics

Total Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1
Neves-Corvo
Ore mined, copper (tonnes) 3,126,005 899,669 749,999 768,806 707,531
Ore mined, zinc (tonnes) 86,202 - 8,973 34,552 42,677
Ore milled, copper (tonnes) 3,197,783 920,480 797,470 736,050 743,783
Ore milled, zinc (tonnes) 63,074 - 63,074 - -
Grade per tonne
Copper (%) 2.7 3.4 2.3 2.2 2.9
Recovery
Copper (%) 85 85 83 83 86
Concentrate grade
Copper (%) 24.4 24.3 24.5 24.2 24.5
Production- tonnes (metal contained)
Copper 74,109 26,866 15,070 13,475 18,698
Zinc 4,227 382 1,874 1,020 951
Zinkgruvan
Ore mined, zinc (tonnes) 1,028,523 226,995 257,365 255,995 288,168
Ore mined, copper (tonnes) 103,349 5,326 36,097 36,269 25,657
Ore milled, zinc (tonnes) 999,280 256,160 235,949 231,145 276,026
Ore milled, copper (tonnes) 109,666 37,651 22,186 20,677 29,152
Grade per tonne
Zinc (%) 8.2 8.5 8.0 8.5 8.0
Lead (%) 3.9 3.7 3.7 4.1 4.2
Copper (%) 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.9 1.7
Recovery
Zinc (%) 92 93 93 90 90
Lead (%) 82 80 83 83 82
Copper (%) 90 91 91 90 89
Concentrate grade
Zinc (%) 52.6 52.4 53.0 52.7 52.4
Lead (%) 74.8 73.7 75.4 75.5 74.7
Copper (%) 25.2 25.6 24.3 24.4 26.2
Production- tonnes (metal contained)
Zinc 75,147 20,337 17,459 17,582 19,769
Lead 32,339 7,621 7,368 7,829 9,521
Copper 1,768 622 349 356 441
Galmoy
Ore mined (tonnes) 302,446 77,113 78,996 76,927 69,410
Ore milled (tonnes) 192,535 46,828 50,125 53,874 41,708
Grade per tonne
Zinc (%) 22.7 20.3 24.8 22.5 23.4
Lead (%) 7.5 5.7 8.9 8.2 7.4
Production- tonnes (metal contained)
Zinc 32,071 6,334 9,458 8,802 7,477
Lead 8,791 1,652 2,709 2,538 1,892

About Lundin Mining

Lundin Mining Corporation is a diversified base metals mining company with operations in Portugal, Sweden, Spain and Ireland, producing copper, zinc, lead and nickel. In addition, Lundin Mining holds a development project pipeline which includes an expansion project at its Neves

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