Engineering & Mining Journal

JUN 2012

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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BASE METALS Meanwhile, Xstrata is also involved in the Frieda River project in Papua New Guinea, in partnership with Highlands Pacific. The most recent resource esti- mate, covering the Horse-Ivaal-Trukai (HIT) deposit, totals 2,090 million mt grading 0.45% copper and 0.22 g/mt gold. A pre-feasibility study was delivered on the project in 2010, with a full feasi- bility study now scheduled for completion by the end of this year as the partners eval- uate alternative power-supply options. The earlier study envisaged an operation capa- ble of producing 190,000 mt/y of copper and 280,000 oz/y of gold for 20 years. In April, Rio Tinto announced the provi- sion of a further $3.3 billion in interim financing to 51%-held Ivanhoe Mines, to enable it to complete construction at Oyu Tolgoi. Commercial production is sched- uled to begin next year, with the mine set to become one of the world's 10 largest copper producers, the company says. Reserves of 1,400 million mt grade 0.94% copper and 0.35 g/mt gold. An annual out- put of 450,000 mt of copper and 330,000 oz of gold will come from both open-pit and underground operations, with the pre-pro- duction cost of development having been put at some $6 billion. Of this, $4 billion had been spent by the end of last year. Other Rio Tinto copper projects include Resolution, close to the old Magma mine in Arizona. Two words ade- quately sum up the potential there: 'big' and 'deep.' The project has an inferred resource of 1,624 million mt grading 1.47% copper and 0.037% molybde- num. Current work involves sinking an exploration shaft to more than 2,100 m (7,000 ft), with a pre-feasibility study scheduled for completion by the year-end and an initial target for production from 2021. Production at a rate of more than 450,000 mt/y would satisfy a quarter of U.S. copper demand. Project optimiza- tion depends in part on the successful outcome of a proposed land-trade with various government agencies. And this is by no means the complete list of copper-focused projects currently at various stages of evaluation or devel- opment. Indeed, the Raw Materials Group, in E&MJ;'s annual mining invest- ment survey (January 2012, pp.24-29), listed no fewer than 37 significant cop- per projects worldwide, each carrying a price tag of at least $1.5 billion. Pebble Labelling zinc bars at Boliden's Kokkola smelter in Finland. Zinc has been in oversupply for several years, although this may change with predicted mine closures. (Photo courtesy of Boliden) www.e-mj.com JUNE 2012 • E&MJ; 93

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