Approves Spence Copper Proj
BHP Billiton Limited
25 October 2004
BHP Billiton Limited is issuing this announcement to fulfil disclosure
obligations arising from its secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.
The text of this release is identical to that issued by BHP Billiton Plc
earlier.
Date 25 October 2004
Number 34/04
BHP BILLITON APPROVES SPENCE COPPER PROJECT
BHP Billiton today announced the approval of the US$990 million Spence Copper
Project in northern Chile. The project will have a designed capacity to produce
200,000 tonnes of copper cathode per annum and will have a mine life of 19
years. First cathode production is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2006.
Project development will consist of the construction of a new open-cut mine with
associated infrastructure, a 50k tonne per day crushing circuit, two separate
leach pads, two parallel solvent extraction (SX) plants and an electrowinning
(EW) circuit to produce copper cathode.
BHP Billiton President Base Metals Diego Hernandez said, 'Spence is the best
undeveloped copper orebody known in the world today. Its large reserves, low
operating cost structure and high return potential will enable it to operate as
one of the world's top tier mines. Its proximity to critical infrastructure such
as power, water and road and rail transportation will facilitate development and
improve the associated economic returns. We are excited about its prospects and
its future contribution to BHP Billiton.'
The Spence orebody consists of both copper sulphide and oxide ores that will be
mined from one open-cut mine but processed separately in order to achieve higher
recovery rates. The chemical leaching of oxide ores and bacterial leaching of
sulphide ores will be conducted on separate leach pads, with the resulting
solutions sent to separate oxide and sulphide SX plants. The resulting solutions
from the SX plants will then be treated in a single EW plant to produce copper
cathode.
Mr Hernandez said, 'This project, which enjoys investment protection under the
DL 600 Foreign Investment Statute in Chile, continues to demonstrate our
commitment to develop our world class projects and operations in Chile, where we
have a long-established track record as a responsible corporate citizen.'
Proven and Probable ore reserves for the Spence orebody are estimated to be 310
million tonnes of copper ore with an average total copper grade of 1.14% at a
total copper cut-off grade of 0.30%. These ore reserves are divided between 79
million tonnes of heap leach oxide ore at a grade of 1.18% total copper and
0.88% acid soluble copper, and 231 million tonnes of heap leach sulphide ore at
a grade of 1.13% total copper, both at a total copper cut-off of 0.3%. The break
down of proven and probable ore reserve categories is presented below. (1)
Ore Reserve Reserve Million % Total % Acid Soluble
(at 0.3% TCu Category Tonnes Copper Copper
Cut-off)
Oxide Ore Proven 40 1.35 1.00
Probable 38 1.01 0.76
Proven + 79 1.18 0.88
Probable
Sulphide Ore Proven 107 1.38 na
Probable 124 0.92 na
Proven + 231 1.13 na
Probable
Total Ore Proven + 310 1.14 na
Probable
All tonnes and grade information has been rounded; hence small differences may
be present in the totals.
(1) The information upon which this press release is founded and which relates
to Spence Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Mr. Paul Satchwell,
who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr.
Satchwell is employed by Mining Technical Services International S.A. He has
sufficient experience with the estimation, assessment, evaluation and economic
extraction of large-scale copper mining operations and projects. This experience
is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking, and as such he
qualifies as a Competent Person as defined in the 1999 Edition of the '
Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and
Ore Reserves'. Mr. Satchwell consents to the inclusion in this press release of
the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it
appears.
Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site:
http://www.bhpbilliton.com
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email: Francis.R.McAllister@bhpbilliton.com email: Michael.J.Campbell@bhpbilliton.com
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