Rockland completion to cost A$90m

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Rocklands copper project, in Queensland, would require a capital investment of A$637.4-million to support a 2.74-million-tonne-a-year project, a feasibility study has shown.

ASX-listed CuDeco reported on Thursday that average life-of-mine production was expected to reach 18 347 t/y over ten years. C1 cash costs for the life of the operation have been estimated at A$1.13/lb.

The project was expected to have a net present value after tax of A$405-million and an internal rate of return of 0.2%.

Trial mining at the Rocklands project started in 2012, and at the end of June last year, a total of 13.8-million tonnes of ore and waste had been excavated, with an estimated 2.2-million tonnes of ore stockpiled and ready for processing.

Trial mining at the mine continued between the end of June and August last year, until it was temporarily suspended.

The project was about 90% complete as of the end of December, with A$573-million already invested. CuDeco said that an additional A$64-million was estimated for the project to reach practical construction completion, including working capital and other corporate requirements.

“In the absence of a feasibility study, in-house estimates have been used for mining, processing, marketing, environment, community and financial modelling,” said CuDeco MD Peter Hutchison.

“The feasibility study provides confirmation via independent technical due diligence that our current modelling is appropriate and the project is not only viable, but will generate considerable cash flow from this point forward.”

“When the original decision was made to develop Rocklands it was a very different environment, so it is pleasing to see that in spite of the currently challenging commodity pricing environment, Rocklands remains a robust project.”