Canadian Copper Firm Moves Forward with Project in Chile

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Centenario Copper Corporation (Toronto, Canada), through its operating subsidiary Centenario Copper Chile S.C.M. (Santiago, Chile), is advancing the $150 million Franke copper project in order to produce 30,000 tons per year of copper cathodes for 7 years. Located south of Chile's Antofagasta region about 80 kilometers southeast of the city of Taltal, the Franke deposit contains estimated resources of 35 million tons of oxides and sulfides and 26.3 million tons of mineral reserves at an average grade of 0.95% of copper.

The project, being managed by AMEC (Santiago, Chile) entails the construction of a copper solvent extraction and electrowinning plant, delivered by Outotec (Santiago, Chile), and a 60-kilometer water pipeline, being constructed by Incolur S.A. (Santiago). The pipeline will guarantee industrial water for Franke's operations, which is no small issue in a region where water availability is a major concern. In this regard, Centenario has signed a contract with Chile's state-owned copper corporation Codelco (Santiago) to buy almost 50 liters per second of water from Codelco's Salvador division in the Chilean region of Atacama, at an altitude of almost 1,000 meters higher than the Franke project's location, which will make water transportation easier. The agreement entails the supply of industrial water beginning in 2009, after Salvador its oxide processes, until 2020. Centenario received environmental approval from Chilean authorities in July 2007 and intends to complete the project by December 2008, with the production of its first copper cathode.

Centenario Copper was founded in 2004. Besides the Franke project, the company has two projects in Regions II and III of northern Chile.

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