Lisbon Valley Progress
From the first new US copper mine in many a year (Im, October 2005, p6) Constellation Copper has provided an update on the construction and start-up progress at Lisbon Valley, San Juan County, Utah, and exploration at the Flying Diamond discovery located 7 km to the south of the Lisbon Valley processing facility.
Construction and Start-Up Progress
- Overall construction 85% complete
- Construction of leach pads complete
- Construction of crushing and conveying-staking system complete
- Construction of SX plant complete, absent cover
- Construction of EW facility within 6 weeks of completion
- Mining of ore at full production capacity of 24,000 t/d underway
- Crushing and placement of ore onto leach pad underway
- First cathode production scheduled for Q4 2005
- Phase 2 leach pad expansion underway
Construction of the crushing and conveying-stacking system is complete. Mining, crushing, and placement of ore onto the leach pad are proceeding at full production capacity of 24,000 t/d. About 200,000 t of crushed ore is already on the leach pad as a protective blanket over the synthetic liner, with another 100,000 t in intermediate stockpile. Phase 2 expansion of the leach pad has commenced. A complete water well system is on line. A 3.4 m x 10.7 m rubber-lined drum agglomerator has been installed in the circuit to accelerate acid cure of the ore. Acid will be applied to the ore in the agglomerator and on the leach pad beginning the last week of October. Meanwhile, construction of the SX plant is nearly complete, and the construction crew is focused on completion of the solution tank farm and EW facility. Plant completion is now scheduled for the end of November. First solution through the SX plant is scheduled for early December, and first solution through the EW facility is anticipated in mid-December, with first copper production to follow shortly thereafter.
A permit has been received to drill 17 holes on the southern end of the Flying Diamond target in Colorado, where abundant copper oxides are exposed in outcrop across a strike length of +100 m before the host formation disappears beneath alluvial cover. Drilling can commence pending posting of the reclamation bond (which is in progress), and availability of a drill rig and crew, currently anticipated for late October. A diamond drill is on the Flying Diamond deposit currently, drilling confirmation twin holes of the reverse circulation discovery holes and providing details of geologic controls on copper mineralization in the two host formations. A permit application has been submitted to the State of Utah and the BLM to continue drilling the immediate open extensions of the Flying Diamond discovery, which is expected to commence after drilling is completed on the southern extension of the target in Colorado.
Constellation says it “looks forward to producing first copper cathodes in the 4th quarter 2005, ramping up to full production capacity of +54 Mlb of copper in the 1st quarter 2006.