CuDeco saves A$80m in transport, logistics costs

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed copper developer CuDeco has achieved an estimated A$80-million in cost savings at its Rocklands copper project, in Queensland, after signing a five-year mine-to-port transport and logistics agreement.

The new logistics contract with Townsville Bulk Storage and Handling (TBSH), which had a five-year extension option, supplemented the recent signing of an agreement with TBSH for the supply and delivery of bulk fuel to the Rocklands mine.

Under the fuel contract, TBSH will supply and deliver up to 750 000 ℓ of diesel a week to fuel the 28 MW power station, mining fleet and light vehicles.

The agreements would result in CuDeco no longer requiring its own loading and storage facilities in either Cloncurry or Townsville and could save the company some A$80-million in capital works costs.

“Securing this agreement with TBSH is a significant step in the development of the Rocklands copper project, with a commercially viable end-to-end logistics solution that is essential in realising shareholder value,” said MD Peter Hutchison.

Under the agreement, the Rocklands concentrate would be shipped in closed half-height containers from the mine site through to Townsville, where it would be loaded onto ships for delivery. The entire logistics chain would be managed by TBSH, including the transport of up to 850 000 t of copper and cobalt/pyrite concentrates over the first five years of production.

The agreement also included the supply of half-height closed containers and back delivery of the same on returning trucks, at no additional cost to CuDeco, replacing the loading and storage facilities previously planned in Cloncurry and Townsville.

The Rocklands project was expected to include a three-million-tonne-a-year processing plant and would produce 480 000 t/y of copper/gold, pyrite/cobalt and magnetite concentrate.

First product delivery was expected in early 2016.