por Oscar Pezo » Jue Jul 22, 2010 8:13 am
Vancouver, British Columbia, July 22, 2010. Candente Copper Corp.
(TSX:DNT) ("Candente Copper") is pleased to provide a progress update on the Cañariaco Norte Copper Project Pre-Feasibility Study. A number of significant improvements to the project have already been identified and selected for inclusion in the Pre-Feasibility Study, including an increase in production rate from 75,000 to 85,000 tonnes per day, the identification of a process for the reduction of arsenic in the concentrate to non-penalty levels, and the initiation of discussions to use a proposed new port near Eten as a shared concentrate shipping facility.
Under the guidance of AMEC Americas Ltd ("AMEC"), various trade-off studies have been undertaken. Two key studies are now complete, and technical development options have been selected which are expected to significantly improve the project economics.
The first study assessed various process plant capacities and, based on the results, the production rate will be increased to 85,000 tonnes per day. This is a 13% increase over the 75,000 tonnes per day plant capacity specified in the 2008 SRK Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"), and is estimated to result in a corresponding increase in annual copper production. The increase in plant throughput will be achieved by optimizing the PEA grinding circuit design, including increasing the size of the secondary ball mills and increasing the projected plant availability by 2%, which reflects current industry experience. The impact on the capital cost of the grinding circuit due to these changes is expected to be minimal as the sizes of the primary crusher and Semi-Autogenous Grinding ("SAG") mill remain unchanged from what was specified in the PEA.
In the second study, AMEC has assessed the various processing technologies currently available to reduce the content of arsenic in the copper concentrate to non-penalty levels, and they have proposed utilizing a concentrate roasting process offered by Outotec Oyj
("Outotec") of Finland. This process technology is currently being supplied by Outotec to CODELCO for a similar application at its new Ministro Hales mine in northern Chile. As part of the current metallurgical test work, samples of Cañariaco Norte flotation concentrate will be submitted to Outotec for testing to confirm the applicability of their process to the concentrate.
As previously reported in Candente Copper news release 007, a proposed new port site near the port of Eten has been selected by Candente Copper for a copper concentrate load-out facility. Eten is only 240 kms from the Cañariaco Norte mine site, whereas the port of Salaverry, which was used in the Cañariaco Norte PEA, is 420 kms from the mine site. The reduced distance will significantly reduce life-of-mine concentrate transport costs.
The new port near Eten has been proposed by Lumina Copper SAC
("Lumina") for development of a concentrate loadout facility for its El Galeno copper project in Northern Peru. Very significant positive benefits to both projects are anticipated by the development of a shared loadout facility, and Candente Copper and Lumina have initiated discussions regarding the potential of a shared-use facility.
"We are very pleased with the progress to date, as we have made several very significant improvements to the scope of project development, and we anticipate additional improvements as we continue to develop the Cañariaco Norte project through the Pre-Feasibility Study," commented Sean Waller, P.Eng., President of Candente Copper.
The Cañariaco Norte Copper Project Pre-Feasibility Study is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2010.
About Candente Copper
Candente Copper's flagship project is the 100% owned, 7.7 billion pound, feasibility stage Cañariaco Norte Copper Project located in northern Peru's prolific mining district. The Cañariaco Norte deposit contains a Measured and Indicated resource of 622 million tonnes grading 0.52% copper equivalent, and an Inferred Resource of 128 million tonnes at 0.47% copper equivalent*.
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