Exco pushing ahead with approvals Wednesday, 20 May 2009 COPPER hopeful Exco Resources’ flagship Cloncurry project has been deemed a “project of regional significance” by the Queensland government for its water needs, a decision the company hopes will pave the way for it to gain access to the state water reserve. Exco said the Department of Infrastructure and Planning had given the company the designation over water resources, which should help the company when it comes to water allocations. The company is pushing ahead with approvals at the Cloncurry project and hopes to submit its Environmental Impact Statement during the current quarter. A pre-feasibility study into the project was based on a 2 million tonne per annum concentrator facility but the company is eyeing a larger operation, around 2.5-3.0Mtpa, in the wake of a resource upgrade this year. This could see the company produce up to 25,000t of copper in concentrate per annum. The Cloncurry project has an indicated and inferred resource of 51 million tonnes grading 0.84% copper and 0.23 grams per tonne gold for 430,000t of copper and 376,000 ounces of gold. A definitive feasibility study is underway on the project. Shares in Exco were last traded at 19.5c, up half a cent.