Xstrata Copper Moves Forward with Las Bambas Copper Project in Peru

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Xstrata Copper (Brisbane, Australia), a business unit of Xstrata PLC (LSE:XTA) (Zug, Switzerland), is moving forward with a feasibility study of the Las Bambas copper project in southern Peru, about 72 kilometers from Cuzco city. The company estimates an investment of about $1 billion to develop the project.

The project entails the construction of an open pit mine expected to process 90,000 tons per day of copper. The mineral resources data released in March 2008 indicate 860 million tons at a grade of 0.93% copper, using a 0.4% copper cut-off grade. The economic evaluation is expected to be complete by mid-2009. Construction, which is expected to last at least two years, is set to kick off in the third-quarter of 2010. Becthel (Santiago, Chile) was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for this project.

Xstrata Copper is the fourth largest global copper producer with an annual production capacity of more than 1 million tons. In Peru, the company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary Xstrata Copper Southern Peru (Lima), which is also developing two other copper projects in Peru: the Antapaccay and Coroccohuayco projects, which are both located about 10 kilometers from the company's Tintaya Mine.

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