Reuters reported that Brazilian mining giant Vale is postponing the start up of the USD 1.8 billion Salobo copper project in the Amazon region of northern Brazil due to construction problems.

Mr Murilo Ferreira CEO of Vale CEO said that Salobo the largest copper deposit yet discovered in Brazil is now scheduled to begin production in the H1 of 2012.

Mr Ferreira said that it's a small delay the start up had been scheduled for the H2 of 2011. The mine could help Rio de Janeiro based Vale become by 2015 one of the world's top 5 producers of the reddish metal a key component in electrical and electronic equipment.

Vale has budgeted USD 1.8 billion for the Phase I, Salobo's Phase I of development calls for capacity to reach 127,000 tonnes per year of copper concentrate with 130,000 ounces of gold as a by product.

The company said that last year it expects its total copper production to reach 1 million tonnes per year by 2015, a nearly 5 fold increase over its output of 207,000 tonnes in 2010.

(Sourced from Reuters)