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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (17695)	4/14/2008 10:30:31 PM
From: LoneClone	Respond to of 194000

Australian copper/nickel/cobalt project in Finland reaches milestone mineweb.co.za Vulcan Resources Ltd today released details of a definitive feasibility study on its 100% owned Kylylahti copper-cobalt project in east Finland, near the historic mining town of Outokumpu, for which the first ore should be mined late in 2010. Author: Ross Louthean Posted: Monday , 14 Apr 2008 PERTH - Alistair Cowden, managing director of Vulcan Resources (ASX: VCN; Frankfurt SX: VUA; Norwegian OTC: VCNR) said today that the Kylylahti base metals project was fully permitted, was a straightforward underground mine and concentrator and offered robust economics for rapid payback. Cowden said the project was close to established smelters and refineries and advanced negotiations were underway for sale of copper-gold and cobalt-nickel-zinc concentrates. The operation was expected to have a 10 years life with scope for an added five years. It has a resource of 7.85 million tonnes grading 1.17% copper, 0.24% cobalt, 0.22% nickel, 0.49% zinc and 0.7 grams/tonne gold. This includes a proven rserve of 603,714t @ 1.11% Cu, 0.23% Co, 0.2% Ni and 0.36% Zn, and a probable 6.34 Mt @ 1.17% Cu, 0.24% Co, 0.2% Ni and 0.5% Zn. One other regional deposit, the Kuhmo nickel project (owned 95%) has a resource of 38,000t nickel and over 80,000 ounces of platinum and palladium. Cowden said the copper market was still strong and the cobalt market had a supply deficit, with projects in the Congo struggling with security, power supply, costs and title risks while new supply from nickel laterites was challenged by spiralling acid and other costs. "CRU (Group) has the price remaining strong to 2011," he said. Key data from the definitive feasibility study included that Kylylahti would have an after taxation net present value of $US149 million, an after taxation internal rate of return of 29.5% and an earnings before income tax of $US84 M per annum. The project's capital cost was put at $US170 M, with copper equivalent cash operating costs of $US1.05/lb and payback in three years. The mine blueprint is for annual mine production of 800,000t, with mining from 110m to 700m below surface and for a contract miner for the first three years and an owner-operator operation thereafter. Annual metal production for the first five years was put at a copper-gold concentrate producing 8,800t of contained copper and 11,900 oz gold, and a bulk concentrate with 1,900t of cobalt, 1,350t nickel, 3,800t zinc and 1,700t copper. Cowden, who spent many of his former years working for WMC Resources and others in the nickel camps of Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, said the mineralised belt containing the Kuhmo-Suomussalmi belt was analogous to the greenstone belt of WA that takes in the Cosmos through Kambalda to the Forrestania nickel. The greenstone belt in Finland stretched for 150 kilometres, roughly similar to the nickel belt in WA. Vulcan's chairman, Barry Eldridge said Kylylahti will mark "the revitalising of the Outokumpu copper field some 100 years after the initial discoveries in 1910." He said Finland is an excellent country in which to do business, and Vulcan expects to generate 150 jobs during construction and 200 permanent jobs.