TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Europe-focused copper miner EMED Mining has completed site development work for Phase 1 of its flagship Rio Tinto mine, in Spain’s Andalucía region, ahead of schedule and below budget, achieving first copper concentrate production on July 31.

“Having attained our goal of starting production well ahead of schedule and under budget, our focus is now on the two expansion phases. We look forward to growing our commercial production as a "pure-play" copper producer and are extremely grateful for the continued support shown by our shareholders," CEO Alberto Lavandeira said on Wednesday.

The TSX- and Aim-listed company reported that waste prestripping had been taking place and mineralised material was being supplied to the flotation plant for use during commissioning.

EMED was busy with wet commissioning and the various components of the plant, including the secondary and tertiary crushers, flotation cells and pumps, were working smoothly.

Despite achieving first concentrate production at the end of July, the concentrates were not marketable as expected, instead demonstrating that the processing plant was working well from a mechanical perspective. The ramp-up phase over the coming months would focus on fine-tuning throughput, concentrate grade and recovery until commercial concentrates were produced.

EMED noted that the existing mining fleet had demonstrated the capacity to operate “well in excess” of current plan requirements. There were now 260 full-time employees working on site, supplementing the 450 to 550 contractors who were fully mobilised and working continuously, mainly on the plant for the Phase 1 expansion. 

The existing plant and infrastructure refurbishment for Phase 1 resulted in confirmed capital expenditure savings of $62-million, EMED said.

The Phase 1 expansion project, scheduled to be complete by June 2016, was expected to lift the plant beyond its initial five-million-tonne-a-year capacity to 7.5-million tonnes a year.

Having raised enough funds for the expansion, EMED planned to accelerate the project.

Further, the mine contractor had ordered new equipment for the Phase 2 expansion to 9.5-million tonnes a year, with the first deliveries due on site in December and the remaining items expected in March 2016.

At the plant expansion, a team was currently at work focusing on engineering and flotation.

EMED continued to review the economics of the Phase 2 expansion project and, as expected, indications were that the capital intensity of the project would be maintained at levels similar to those achieved in Phase 1.

The company was targeting mechanical completion of the Phase 2 expansion by the end of the second half of 2016.

EMED was undertaking infill drilling within the Cerro Colorado pit to obtain a complete detailed block model that could be used for mine planning and further pit optimisation, as well as potentially extending the mine life.

The company had reached agreements with interested parties to dispose of its noncore exploration assets in Slovakia and Cyprus to streamline available working capital and focus management on Rio Tinto.