Xstrata Copper announced significant increases to total Mineral Resources at the Las Bambas and Corroccohuayco projects in southern Peru and at El Pachón in Argentina from ongoing focused exploration and Mineral Resource expansion programs in South America.
In 2011, Xstrata Copper’s total contained copper in total Mineral Resources have grown by 10%, the equivalent of 9 million tonnes to 97 million tonnes including operations in North Queensland, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Canada and major development projects in Peru, Chile, Argentina, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
El Pachón’s Mineral Resource estimate has increased by 53% to a total of 2.740 billion tonnes at a grade of 0.48% copper using a cut off grade of 0.2% copper. This represents 13.1 million tonnes of contained copper metal, 44% increase compared to the previous mineral resource issued 1 October 2010. The new estimate is the result of the largest 2010-11 summer-season drilling program in the project’s history in which 56,000 meters of infill and step out drilling were completed as part of the project’s final Feasibility Study.
The Las Bambas project Mineral Resource estimate has increased to 1.710 billion tonnes at a grade of 0.60% copper using a 0.2% copper cut off grade an increase of 10% compared to the previous Mineral Resource dated 1 October 2010. Contained copper metal in Resource has risen by 9% to 10.3 million tonnes. Measured and Indicated Resources now represent 71% of the total resource. Xstrata Copper will continue exploration and Resource definition drilling programs in this exciting mineral district.
Coroccohuayco is an earlier stage project located 9 kilometers from Xstrata’s Tintaya Antapaccay operation. The Antapaccay expansion to Tintaya, comprising an open pit mine and a new large scale copper concentrator, is on track for commissioning in the second half of 2012 with initial annual production of 160,000 tonnes of copper. The Corroccohuayco deposit is being evaluated as a potential open pit satellite mine to expand production further at Tintaya Antapaccay.
As a result of further drilling identifying resources closer to the surface, the new Coroccohuayco project Mineral Resource has risen by 250% to 324 million tonnes at a grade of 0.93% copper, using a 0.3% cut off and includes significant gold silver and molybdenum by product credits. This represents a 6% increase to 3.0 million tonnes of contained copper in Resource.
During 2012, Xstrata Copper plans to conduct a further 40,000 meters of drilling and commence prefeasibility studies into Coroccohuayco’s development. This will be undertaken in parallel with a Resource expansion program at Antapaccay to significantly expand Antapaccay’s existing Mineral Resource base of 817 million tonnes at a copper grade of 0.50%.
Mr Charlie Sartain CEO of Xstrata Copper said that “Our significant and expanding mineral resource base in South America has laid the foundations for our approved organic growth program that will increase copper production by more than 50% to 1.5 million tonnes of copper per year by the end of 2014 and offers great potential for further substantial copper production growth in the region.”
Mr Sartain said that “El Pachón holds the potential to initially produce over 400,000 tonnes of copper per year from 2016. Updated feasibility studies for this major Greenfield project are scheduled for completion in the Q1 of 2012 after which we will be in a position to take a decision regarding its development.”
He said that continued exploration at our Las Bambas Greenfield project in southern Peru, now under development, is confirming the large scale, long life and low cost characteristics of this world-class asset which is on schedule to start producing an average of 400,000 tonnes of copper per year from the H2 of 2014.
He added that at Coroccohuayco, ongoing exploration has identified additional mineral resources close to the surface indicating that this high grade deposit can be mined via open pit rather than underground mining methods, enhancing its potential to further expand our nearby Tintaya Antapaccay operation in southern Peru.
