JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Capricorn copper mine, near Mount Isa, in Queensland, has produced its first copper concentrate and has officially been declared open.
The mine, jointly owned by private equity fund EMR Capital and mining group Lighthouse Minerals, will produce about 30 000 t/y of copper in concentrate over an initial mine life of ten years.
Capricorn Copper MD Carl Hallion said at the weekend that the mine refurbishment project had been completed at an “ideal time”, citing the stronger copper market fundamentals. Since the refurbishment project started in November last year, the copper price had increased by more than 30%.
“We have been confident in the fundamentals of copper throughout the project development phase and the timing for first concentrate is ideal,” he said in a statement issued on Saturday.
EMR and Lighthouse bought the Capricorn mine in October 2015, after former owner Aditya Birla mothballed it in 2013, when copper prices were low.
The project has a resource containing more than 900 000 t of copper metal.
The mine will maintain an operating workforce of about 220 full time employees.