Cerro Colorado undergoes feasibility

Toronto-based Tiomin Resources (TIO-T) is proceeding with a full feasibility study at the giant Cerro Colorado copper project in western Panama.

In accordance with the development agreement, the company recently paid US$3 million to the Panamanian government.

Cerro Colorado is the 12th-largest porphyry copper deposit in the world, with an open-pit reserve estimated at 1.4 billion tonnes grading 0.78% copper (based on a 0.4% cutoff), which translates into 24 billion lb. copper with some silver and molybdenum. The total resource estimate stands at 4.5 billion tonnes of 0.45% copper, which is equivalent to 45 billion lb. copper. Copper mineralization occurs both as supergene and sulphide ores, in the form of chalcocite, covellite, cuprite and chalcopyrite.

Tiomin’s prefeasibility study recommended using solvent

extraction-electrowinning on 50-60 million lb. of cathode copper per year at an average cash cost of 47 cents per lb. The process would be replaced, after a few years, by conventional milling of 50,000 tonnes per day, which would yield 300 million lb. of copper concentrate annually at an average cash cost of less than 30 cents per lb. The mine life was pegged at 45 years.

Tiomin will initially have a 100% interest in the operation, though this figure will decline to 71% once capital costs are repaid to lenders. The interest will then fall 1% per year to an eventual level of 51%.

The full feasibility study is scheduled to be completed by March 1998.

In other developments, Tiomin will soon begin drilling at the Annic project, a nickel-copper-cobalt joint venture with Quebec government-owned Soquem. The project consists of three exploration concessions totalling 33,750 sq. km in the North Shore region of Quebec.

Also, a prefeasibility study is under way at Tiomin’s titanium mineral sands project in coastal Kenya.