Project Will Cost $5.2 Billion
Xstrata Plc has submitted the results of a feasibility study to the government of the Philippines for its $5.2-billion Tampakan copper and gold project in the Southern Mindanao region of the country.
“This is the most expensive and the most exhaustive feasibility study in any mining project here in the Philippines," Edwin G. Domingo, director of the Environment department’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau, told reporters on Wednesday.
Tampakan – in which Xstrata has a 62.5% stake - is believed to be one of the largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits in Southeast Asia, with an estimated 12.8 million tonnes of copper and 15.2 million ounces of gold. Annual production is projected to average 340,000 tonnes of copper and 350,000 ounces of gold per year over the mine’s 20-year lifespan.
Once clearance has been given by the Environment department Xstrata expects to begin work on the project on 2012 or 2013 with production slated to begin in 2016.
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