EXCO Resources has reported a 175% increase in indicated resources at E1 Camp and a 20% increase in the total resource at its E1 South deposit at the Cloncurry copper project in Queensland.
Exco Resources is exploring the Cloncurry region of Queensland for copper, gold and uranium
The Perth-based company said the known resources at the E1 Camp was now 34.1 million tonnes, with the indicated portion having increased from 4.16Mt to 11.46Mt.
Resources for the Cloncurry project now exceed 38.8Mt containing 347,500t of copper and 301,600oz of gold, of which 13.8Mt is in the indicated category.
Exco expects inventories to increase further in coming weeks once an update of the E1 North resource model has been completed.
The E1 Camp comprises the E1 North, South and East deposits and lies 40km northeast of Cloncurry.
At E1 South, positive results from drilling have been included in a new resource model, which consists of 18.2Mt at 0.67% copper and 0.18gpt gold.
The contained metal inventory at E1 South now includes 121,900t of copper and 103,900oz of gold.
Exco said the infill program has also led to the upgrading of the resource to the indicated category.
The indicated portion of 7.3Mt at 0.73% copper and 0.2gpt gold now comprises 40% of the total E1 South resource and is expected to form the basis of an in-pit mineable reserve once pit optimisations are re-run as part of the current definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the Cloncurry project.
Meantime, Exco says the DFS for the Cloncurry project remains on schedule to be finish during the first quarter of 2009.
The previous pre-feasibility study (PFS) contemplated the construction of a 2 million tonne per annum concentrator facility at E1 Camp, however current and further increases in resources will now support a 2.5-3Mtpa operation over a 10-year project life.
The company expects that at this expanded throughput, the project will produce around 25,000t of copper in concentrate per annum, 25% more than envisaged by the PFS.
Shares in Exco have gained 1.5c to 35.5c in early afternoon trade.
Exco Resources will be presenting at the 2008 Excellence in Mining & Exploration investment conference in Sydney from September 14-16 at the Hilton.
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EXS Price at posting:
35.0¢ Sentiment: ST Buy Disclosure: Held
