Chile OKs study on $1.43 bln gold and copper project
Date: 04-Feb-02
Country: CHILE
"This is the biggest project that has been presented to the environmental impact evaluation system and after a prolonged analysis, it has been approved," Daniel Alvarez, director of the Atacama region environmental authority, told Reuters.
Every major industrial project in Chile must be authorized by the state environmental agency, a key step before beginning construction.
The project, located at an altitude of 4,000 meters in the Andean mountains in northern Chile, would eventually produce 900,000 ounces gold annually as well as 128,000 tonnes copper and 1.8 million ounces silver.
Placer Dome holds a 51 percent stake in the project while Arizona Star and Bema Gold have 25 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
It was not clear when the owners might begin constructing the mine but a Bema Gold spokesman said it would depend on mineral prices.
"Its at the discretion of Placer Dome to decide when the project is financable," Bema Gold investor relations chief Ian Maclean told Reuters.
Officials at Placer Dome were not immediately available to comment.
In a 1999 feasibility study on Cerro Casale, Placer Dome set gold price target of $350 per ounce and copper price of 95 cents per lb for mine development. But those prices are not necessarily binding today, Maclean said.
COMEX May copper prices last week settled at 73.85 cents per pound while COMEX April gold ended flat at 282.90 an ounce.
According to the environmental impact study, Cerro Casale would be an open-pit mine with a life of 18 years.