Vancouver — The government of Mauritania has given its blessing for
The agreement has First Quantum establishing an 80%-owned company to develop and operate the project, with Guelb Moghrein Mines d’Akjoujt SA (Gemak) owning the remainder.
In return, the company is paying Gemak US$10 million in three instalments.
Guelb Moghrein is believed to be an iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) deposit. Copper-gold mineralization occurs as disseminated chalcopyrite and cubanite (a copper-iron sulphide), plus minor free gold, cobaltite and arsenopyrite. The deposit is hosted in shallow-dipping mafic volcanics and sediments adjacent to a gabbro intrusive.
The deposit is on a 720-sq.-km concession in western Mauritania, near the town of Akjoujt.
A previous engineering study calculated a minable, measured and indicated open-pit resource of 23.7 million tonnes grading 1.88% copper and 1.41 grams gold per tonne, based on a cutoff grade of 1% copper. The company intends to recalculate the resource so that the estimate complies with NI 43-101 guidelines.
First Quantum is undertaking an engineering program, including metallurgical studies and plant design, with the goal of having production on-stream by late 2005. The project will contribute significantly to the company’s copper output with anticipated production rates of 30,000 tonnes copper and 50,000 oz. gold annually over a lifespan of at least 10 years.
First Quantum is a copper producer (with associated gold, cobalt and sulfuric acid) with operations in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2003, the company’s copper production was just under 30,000 tonnes.
The company has 60.3 million shares outstanding and trades in the range of $14.50-$14.75 per share.
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