Revett Minerals Inc., Spokane Valley, Washington (TSX-RVM) (“Revett” or the “Company”) is pleased to report its operating and financial performance for the three months and nine months ending September 30, 2006.

 

The most significant achievements included:

 

In summarizing the performance of the Company, during the first nine months of 2006, Mr.  William Orchow, President and CEO of Revett Minerals, stated “We are pleased to report that both Revett Minerals and the Troy Mine have continued to report positive earnings and cash flow for the third quarter and for the year to date along with the good news for the Rock Creek project going forward after receiving a favorable Biological Opinion on October 13, 2006..

 

In the third quarter, the Troy Mine sold 1.7 million pounds of payable copper and 203,630 ounces of payable silver, and reported revenue of $8.4 million.  The Troy Mine reported third quarter operating income (100% basis) of approximately $3.2 million compared to $0.7million in the third quarter of 2005, bringing the Troy Mine’s earnings to $8.7 million for the first nine months of 2006. Only 67% of these earnings are attributable to the shareholders of Revett Minerals because of the non controlling shareholdings in Revett Silver. For the nine month period, the Company sold 5.2 million pounds of payable copper and 651,879 ounces of payable silver, recognizing total revenue of $27.3 million. For the first nine months of 2005, Revett Minerals sold 5.8 million pounds of payable copper and 718,195 ounces of payable silver and reported revenue of $14.6 million.

To September 30, 2006, mill throughput was greater than throughput for the first nine months of 2005. In 2006, both copper and silver grades milled declined to levels closer to the life of mine averages.  To date in 2006, copper and silver recoveries increased substantially over the comparable levels for 2005. For the third quarter silver recovery at 88% was above the 87% recovery projection made at the time the mine was re-opened. Copper recoveries at 85% were marginally below the life of mine average of 86% and these recoveries are expected to improve when the mill is operated at planned throughput levels.

 

During the quarter ending September 30, 2006 the mill processed ore at the rate of approximately 2,468 tons per day and for the nine months of 2006 mill throughput averaged 2,704 tons per day. This compares with an average of 2,052 tons milled per day during the first nine months of 2005 and 1,852 tons per day for the third quarter of 2005.The production of ore underground remains well below the expected level. The Company is attempting to hire professional trainers to improve productivity.   

 

 

As reported above, Revett Minerals reported consolidated net income before tax and non controlling interest of $5.1million and net income after tax and non controlling interest of $3.1 million or $0.05 per share the nine months ending September 30 on sales revenue of $27.3 million. Income from operations totaled $5.4 million and included the following deductions and expenses; cost of sales $17.9 million, the depreciation and amortization deduction of $1.1 million, and exploration and development expenditures of $0.9 million. In addition general and administration costs totaled of $2.0 million, interest expense, net of interest income was $0.3 million and the income tax provision was $0.7 million. For the third quarter, Revett Minerals reported net income before tax and non-controlling interest of $1.2 million; with net income attributable to shareholders of $0.8 million or $0.01 per share on sales revenue of $8.4 million. Income from operations was $1.3 million for the third quarter and included the following deductions and expenses; cost of sales $5.7 million, depreciation and amortization of $0.3 million, and exploration and development of $0.3 million. For the third quarter, general and administration costs were $0.7 million and interest expense, net of interest income was $0.1 million.

 

On October 13, 2006 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife re-issued a favorable biological opinion for the Rock Creek project.  This decision is a major milestone in the continued development of this world class deposit.  The next phase of development is the Evaluation Program which will involve developing an adit and ramp system into the deposit, driving a drift in the mineralized horizon, and performing additional delineation drilling to verify existing technical assumptions.  The physical work related to the adit and ramp development will now likely commence in the spring of 2007.  Between now and the construction of the evaluation adit, the Company and regulatory agencies will finalize a number of  agreements which provide the administrative framework for the mitigation program and Revett will finalize the engineering related to the water treatment plant and the engineering of the evaluation program. 

 

Revett Minerals, through its subsidiaries, owns both the Rock Creek Project and the Troy Mine located in northwest Montana. Based on the drilling to date, Rock Creek contains an estimated inferred resource of 137 million tons grading 1.67 ounces silver per ton and 0.72% copper, containing approximately 229 million ounces of silver and over 2 billion pounds of copper using a cut off grade of US $10.00 nsr per ton. Further information on both the Troy Mine and the Rock Creek Project may be found in the National Instrument 43-101 reports at www.sedar.com. These reports were prepared on behalf of the Company by Mr. Jean-Francois Couture, P.Geo.  and   Mr. Ken Reipas, P.Eng. of SRK Consulting (Canada). Both Mr. Couture and Mr. Reipas are Qualified Persons in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. All of these issues are discussed in greater detail in the Company’s official filings at www.sedar.com. 

 

William Orchow

President  & CEO

 

For more information, please contact:

Scott Brunsdon, CFO or Doug Ward, VP Corporate Development at (509) 921-2294 or visit our website at www.revettminerals.com.