Australia's CuDeco Rocklands Copper Project Targets Late 2014 Completion

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--CuDeco Limited (ASX:CUD) is targeting late 2014 for the completion of its Rocklands copper mine and processing plant in northwest Queensland, Australia. The $250 million project is designed to produce an estimated 350,000 tons per year of copper, along with pyrite and magnetite concentrate, and it has a 3 million-ton-per-year processing capacity.

CuDeco's mill-to-market strategy includes the multi-user rail load facility in Cloncurry, as well as construction of a storage and loading facility at the port of Townsville. The rail facility is being developed simultaneously, and its completion is expected to coincide with the completion of a processing facility. The company has a 60% off-take agreement in place with China Oceanwide International Resources Investment Company, which also holds a 20% interest in CuDeco.

CuDeco has nearly finished the mechanical completion of the processing facility, with the three-stage crushing circuit already undergoing final commissioning. It expects to complete the installation of the ball mill, high-pressure grinding rolls, gravity jigs, thickeners and a de-agglomerater by the end of second-quarter 2014.

Mining operations are under way at three open pits, which are estimated to have an initial mine life of 10 years. CuDeco plans to extend the open pit mine in the future, with possible underground operations in the long term. The port facilities at Townsville will include a storage facility capable of holding 400,000 tons of copper concentrate, and a 2,000-ton-per-hour ship loader. CuDeco has the development permit from the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management, and it expects to commence construction by mid-2014. Sinosteel Corporation (Western Australia) has been overseeing the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), while China Nerin Engineering was appointed as the design engineering firm for the processing facility.

CuDeco expects to process more than 70% of the ore at the Rocklands processing facility, and the remaining high-grade direct-shipping ore is being stockpiled to be shipped to smelters in China.

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