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Gold/Mining/Energy : first quantum minerals FM on TSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DRT who wrote (215)	1/20/1998 11:45:00 AM
From: Ross	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 385

FIRST QUANTUM MINERALS LTD. ANNOUNCES CONSTRUCTION OF THE BWANA MKUBWA COPPER PROJECT COMPLETED 3 MONTHS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE VANCOUVER, Jan. 20 /CNW/ - First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Trading Symbol: FM The company is pleased to announce that construction of its 100% owned Bwana Mkubwa Copper Project (BMCP) at Ndola in northwest Zambia has been completed ahead of the scheduled completion date of March 1998. Commissioning is now in progress with the first acid production scheduled to commence on January 29th, and the first tailings slurry flowing into the plant on January 30th. The Board of Directors wishes to congratulate the project management, contractors and staff for completion of the BMCP within budget, (approx. US$30 million) and in an astonishing 20 months from commencement of feasibility study. Of particular note and importance to shareholders, the plant has been built to a much higher specification than was originally planned at the feasibility study stage. Whereas the original design called for the construction of a plant with a 5-7 year life, the completed plant has the specifications for a 15 year life and has been built at no extra cost. This exceptional achievement will provide processing capacity for any additional ore proven up within the mining licence and the recently acquired adjacent prospecting licence areas. The Company also wishes to acknowledge the extremely valuable assistance provided by personnel from the Minerals and Mines Department of Zambia, in Lusaka. Their cooperation, assistance and professional approach to this development have ensured the success of the project. The Bwana Mkubwa Copper Project is an integrated copper and acid plant based on the famous Bwana Mkubwa copper mine on the Zambian copperbelt. The project comprises the processing of copper oxide tailings by SXEW technology and the production of sulphuric acid by way of sulphur burning. The plant is designed to produce 10,000 tonnes/year of cathode copper and 95,000 tonnes/year of sulphuric acid of which 65,000 tonnes will be available for sale. Operating cash costs are expected to be US $0.33/lb. Recent sulphuric acid sales in the copperbelt region have been at prices ranging from US$225 to US$250/tonne. First Quantum is also progressing with its negotiations and discussions regarding the acquisitions of additional assets within the copperbelt of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Management is confident that positive results will be announced in the coming months. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Michael D. Philpot, Director The Vancouver Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.