Comstock Mining Commissions Crusher

Comstock Mining Inc. (the "Company" or "Comstock") (NYSE Amex: LODE) announced that construction of its Crusher Facility has been completed and it has begun to commission the equipment. The testing and calibration of the facility will continue for about ten days, after which time the production process can commence with the crushing and stacking of ore onto the heap.Ore will be stock piled in front of the crusher, providing a sufficient buffer to feed an optimized blend of grade and rock type into the crusher. Much of the ore in the Lucerne will by-pass the crusher altogether after passing through the wobbler feeder and subsequent screen. The oversize material will be crushed to 100 percent minus 1.25 inches. Cement will be combined with the ore to facilitate agglomeration of the fine particles to ensure proper and continuous circulation of solution as it leaches throughout the heap.
The crushing facility has a higher capacity than will be initially utilized. This provides sufficient crushing capacity for growth, from an initial rate of 1,000,000 tons per annum up to anticipated production levels of more than 3,500,000 tons per annum, without upgrading the crusher."Commissioning the Crusher represents one of the single, most tangible steps on our March to Production," stated Corrado De Gasperis, President and CEO of Comstock Mining. "The American made equipment is state of the art and once commissioned, our team will begin crushing the ore and stacking it onto the new heap pads."
The cost to purchase, construct and install the Crusher Facility was approximately $6.3 million. Four principle contractors were used on this project: Goodfellow Corp, Boulder City, Nevada, JC industries, from Selma, Texas, A.M. Smith Electric, Inc., based in Carson City, Nevada and Lyon County contractor Cruz Construction Company Inc., based about ten miles from the mine in Mound House, Nevada.Comstock remains on schedule to complete the expansion of its Merrill Crowe processing facilities in July.  After crushing and stacking to a sufficient quantity, the Company will then commence leaching and recovering the contained precious metals through the Merrill Crowe zinc precipitation process.  "We remain on track for our first pour this summer," stated Mr. De Gasperis, "We are currently hiring our remaining processing staff for the Merrill Crowe, raising our employment to over 100 people."