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Source: www.townsvillebulletin.news.com.au
Processing copper ore
By TONY RAGGATT
28dec06
THE production of copper concentrate is off and running at Charters Towers.
Mount Garnet base metals producer Kagara Zinc has announced the start of production at the previously mothballed Thalanga copper treatment plant near Charters Towers.
The plant, Kagara's third production facility in North Queensland, sources ore from the Balcooma copper deposit near Greenvale and is expected to produce copper in concentrate at an annualised rate of more than 20,000 tonnes.
Kagara executive chairman Kim Robinson said the start of production had been delayed by about two months.
The plant had also been shut down between December 10-18 because of insufficient supplies of ore.
Mr Robinson said the plant had conducted a five-day commissioning period and throughput had been progressively increased from 1307 tonnes grading 2.3 per cent copper to 1573 tonnes grading 2.9 per cent copper.
Recoveries had increased from 47 per cent to 80 per cent and the concentrate grade had increased from 21 per cent copper to 29 per cent copper.
"This rapid ramp up demonstrates that full production will be achieved very quickly, processing higher grade run of mine ore which, over the next six months, will average between 3.5 per cent and 4 per cent copper," he said.
Mr Robinson said despite the delay in production from Thalanga, it was now expected that a previous estimate of 25,000 tonnes of total copper metal production from its three treatment plants would be exceeded for 2006-07.
This was due largely to the copper plant at Mt Garnet running at more than 50 per cent above original design capacity.
"(This) will more than offset the delayed production from Thalanga," he said.
Meanwhile, the directors of explorer Universal Resources Limited have announced that fieldwork has commenced on known uranium occurrences within Universal's wholly owned 3600sq km tenement portfolio in the Mount Isa and Cloncurry regions.
The company said the current exploration programs were targeting mineralisation located by previous explorers northeast of the former Mary Kathleen uranium mine.
The company also recently completed a feasibility study on its Roseby Copper project near Mount Isa for a proposed mining and treatment operation estimated to produce about 34,000 tonnes of copper in concentrates over a minimum life of 8.5 years and 14,700oz of gold in concentrates a year over the first three years.
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Happy New Year To All - Pie :-)
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