Information on Small Scale Copper Mines
| SX/EW In 1,200 Ton/Month Copper Mines (Tons of Copper) The application of Solvent Extraction/Electro Winning (SX/EW) technology to copper processing improved the quality of the product, made the processing more cost effective and efficient. The leach process is similar to that for gold, except that low cost sulphuric acid is used to leach the copper. Recovery involves concentrating the copper sulphate solution and removing impurities through the SX process, followed by precipitating the copper on the cathode in the electro winning (EW) process. The copper cathode is better than 99% pure and may be sold on commodity exchanges, as is. It commands a higher price per pound of copper than concentrates, requires handling and offers the option of receiving a guaranteed price through the futures markets. Small Scale Copper Leach/SX/EW Operations. Typically, a Small Scale oxide copper deposit will contain a minimum of 100 million pounds of copper. This will be mined at a rate of about 30 million pounds per year and a production cost of less than $USD 0.50 per pound. Using contract mining to reduce capital costs, the total start up capital cost of such a project is around $15-20 million. With Copper prices fluctuating between $0.85 to $0.95/pound (Oct - Nov 2000) it is feasible, but certainlly more profitable at $0.95/pound copper prices. There has been much interest in copper in the last 10 years, in Chile. More recently, small copper mining companies have found success in small scale leaching/ SX/EW copper operations in Chile. Most major (US/Canadian/British) companies in Chile require huge massive copper deposits to justify the Billion USD required to open a large copper mine. This has left the small, but copper rich deposits to languish, waiting for the small scale, but technically savy, copper mining companies to exploit them. Quite often, this is accomplished by a joint venture with a local mining company. Major criteria that these small companies must meet are similar to those of major companies (1) must be cost conscious, margins are lower. (2) Must have good exploration staff, plan and ability to carry out exploration operations successfully. (3) Must have connections to acquire mining rights, permits, meet all local regulations. (4) Must have source for quality Management, Engineering talent, and ability to obtain quality local mining talent. It is possible in Chile, for a small copper operator to bring a exploration site into production within 1 to 1.5 years, with proper capitalization. In the last 5 years or so, it has become more common for some small scale copper producers to explore and mine small but good grade copper reserves in South America. These mines survive when the copper prices remain above $0.80/pound, but will have trouble breaking even at lower prices, typically. |
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**Update On Small Scale Mining In Chile** Monday, July 28, 2003 Chile announced today that the government had plans to provide assistance ( financial - $8,000,000, and other non specified) to small and medium sized mining companies. Once this size of company was plentiful in Chile, but now the mining industry is dominated by a few very large mining companies (including the largest copper mine in the world). The Mining Minister of Chile said they were looking to provide capital for some viable small to mid scale mining projects in Chile. |