Indophil Resources NL of Australia announced that the $5.9 billion Tampakan copper-gold project in Mindanao contains more mineral resources than previously thought, citing a report from Xstrata Copper, the majority shareholder and project manager. The Australian mining firm holds a 37.5-percent interest. Total mineral resources are now estimated at 2.94 billion tons, up from the initial 2.49 billion tons, an 18 percent increase over the previous report in October 2009. Copper is now pegged at 15 million tons from 13.9 million. Gold deposit estimates have been ratcheted up to 17.9 million ounces from 16.2 million. Commercial operations was set to start in 2016 but Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), a unit of Xstrata Copper, has encountered problems in securing an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the project because of a local ordinance that bans the open-pit mining method and an aggressive campaign by anti-mining advocates. SMI has appealed the ruling before the courts, insisting that the provincial law contravenes the national mining policy.
To read the source article, please click HERE
Related Posts:
Leave a Reply
