Name of the Project
Vizcachitas copper/molybdenum project.

Location
About 150 km north-east from Santiago, Chile.

Project Owner/s
Los Andes Copper.

Project Description
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the project has highlighted its strong financial viability.

The project has measured and indicated resources estimated at 1.28-billion tonnes, with a 0.45% copper equivalent grade and 0.40% copper grade (at 0.25% copper cutoff grade).

Envisaged is an openpit mine, and a concentrator plant that produces copper and molybdenum concentrates. The PEA evaluated three cases with mill throughputs of 55 000 t/d, 110 000 t/d and 200 000 t/d.

The 110 000 t/d case has been recommended to advance to the prefeasibility study (PFS).

The project has an estimated 45-year mine life.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.8-billion and an internal rate of return of 20.77%, with a payback of 5.4 years from initial construction and 3.4 years from initial operations.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $1.87-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Testwork had confirmed that the Vizcachitas project will produce a high-grade clean copper concentrate with no market penalties.

The results for copper recoveries and concentrate grades, as part of the ongoing prefeasibility study (PFS), has confirmed a recovery of 91.4%, with a final concentrate grade of 24.5% copper over the first 12 years of the mine plan, the company has said.

The testwork focused on rougher and cleaner flotation stages, including different reagent formulas, open-cycle testing with different regrinding sizes and pulp pH, as well as complete locked-cycle testing to produce the final copper concentrates.

“This testwork validates the flotation performance when the operating parameters are applied to the more complex areas of the mine,” Los Andes executive chairperson Fernando Porcile has said.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Tetra Tech Chile (PEA).

Contact Details for Project Information
Los Andes Copper, email info@losandescopper.com.