Bougainville Copper Ltd, the Papua New Guinea miner in which Rio Tinto Ltd has a 53.6% stake, said on Wednesday a study has shown that its Panguna mine in Papua New Guinea has a mineral resource of a billion tons of ore.
An order of magnitude study has shown there was sufficient potential for a viable operation, allowing the reporting of a mineral resource statement. The mine has an indicated and inferred resource of 1.06 billion metric tons of ore with copper at grades of 0.33% and gold at 0.37 grams per ton.
The mine closed after it was attacked by Bouganville secessionists in 1989, but production for 1988, the last full year of operation, was 166,000 tonnes of copper and 445,000 ounces of gold, worth a total of $1 billion at today's prices.
The company has been in talks with the Papua New Guinean Government and the autonomous Bougainville government over the mine's future but a consensus among stakeholders will be required before any mining recommences.
Hostilities on Bougainville ended in 2001 with the formation of the autonomous government, however Rio Tinto has not been in a hurry to return to the island.
Bouganville Copper now derives its profits from interest on a range of investments.
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