Capstone Copper (ASX:CSC) has reached commercial production at the Mantoverde Development Project (MVDP) in Chile.
The project is operating at an average of 75% of nameplate throughput of 32,000 tonnes of ore daily.
The company says performance on key metrics, such as concentrate grade and recoveries, were at or above targeted levels for this point of the ramp up, while the mill feed grade has reconciled well with the mine plan model.
At the same time, Capstone has completed a Feasibility Study at the Mantoverde optimised brownfield expansion project, which the company says demonstrated a capital efficient debottlenecking expansion of the existing sulphide concentrator from throughput of 32,000 tonnes per year to 45,000 tonnes per year.
Capstone, which has a market capitalisation of $9.98 billion, also notes the study shows an extended 25-year mine life supported by a higher sulphide reserve estimate of 398 million tonnes at 0.49% copper and 0.10 grams per tonne gold.
Over Mantoverde’s mine life, production is forecast to average 81,000 tonnes of copper and 32,000 ounces of gold at C1 cash costs of $2.04 per payable pound of copper produced.
The updated reserve estimate is 236 million tonnes at a soluble copper grade of 0.21% copper, while oxide reserve tonnes have increased by 18% and contained copper has increased by 11%.
Capstone reports the expansionary capital of $146 million yields a total incremental production of 368,000 tonnes of copper and 215,000 ounces of gold compared to the previous technical report — reflecting a capital intensity of $7,500 per tonne of incremental annual copper-equivalent production.
During the next five years, Capstone expects Mantoverde’s annual production to average 135,000 tonnes of copper and 37,000 ounces of gold at C1 cash costs of $1.81 per payable pound of copper production.
The company plans to begin construction of the optimised project following acceptance of its environmental permit application and subject to board approvals. The permit application was submitted in the first half of this year and is expected to be approved in the first half of next year.
Capstone is also working on several “value enhancement” initiatives within the Mantoverde-Santo Domingo (MV-SD) district.
These initiatives include processing of oxide material from the company’s neighbouring Santo Domingo and Sierra Norte projects, using Mantoverde’s excess solvent extraction and electrowinning capacity, recovering cobalt and additional copper from a pyrite concentrate, and ongoing exploration of the MV-SD district.
Additionally, CEO John MacKenzie will be transitioning to the role of non-executive Chairman, while COO Cashel Meagher will become CEO.
MacKenzie says the company has made “significant” strides since the merger between Capstone Mining and Mantos Copper.
“We successfully completed construction and achieved commercial production levels at our flagship MVDP and we have strengthened our team with some of the best people in the mining industry,” he says.
“Now is the right time for these changes and I have every confidence in Cashel to lead the execution of our next stage of growth at Capstone, including our Mantoverde Optimized and Santo Domingo projects.”
Senior Vice President, Head of Chile James Whittaker will take on the role of COO, while founder of the company Darren M Pylot will step down from the board after more than 20 years.
Capstone Copper is an Americas-focused copper miner headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The company owns and operates the Pinto Valley Mine in Arizona, the Cozamin Copper-Silver Mine in Mexico, the Mantos Blancos Mine in Chile, and 70% of the Mantoverde Mine in Chile.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Capstone Copper
