re: **the rush is on, gap up tomorrow--may be this Oxiana sees...

re: **the rush is on, gap up tomorrow--may be this Oxiana sees Laos copper mine start in early 2005
01 APR 2004 05:18:11
SYDNEY, April 1 (Reuters) - Australia-listed Oxiana Ltd said on Thursday that production from its Khanong copper mine in Laos would start in the first quarter of 2005.

Oxiana said the mine, now under construction, will yield 60,000 tonnes of copper cathode a year by employing heap leaching technology at peak production rates.

Cash production costs at the mine should average $0.37 a pound, which would allow the operation to generate an annual operating cash surplus of $130 million before financing and tax, based on the current world copper price of $1.35 a pound.

Oxiana, which also mines gold in Laos, last traded two percent firmer at A$2.02 in afternoon trading.

($1=A$1.33) ((Reporting by James Regan, editing by William Willitts; [email protected]; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]; +612 9373 1814))