CVRD to develop deposit

The board of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO-N) has approved a US$232-million budget to develop the 118 copper deposit, 6.5 km from the company’s Sossego copper mine in Par state, Brazil.

The proposed mine would produce 36,000 tonnes copper annually from an open pit with a solvent extraction-electrowinning plant. The plant would also treat oxide ores from Sossego. CVRD estimates the new mine could start up in the first half of 2008.

The 118 deposit has a reserve of 78 million tonnes grading 0.85% copper, and the pit would have a mine life of 11 years. Sossego, which shipped its first concentrate in early June, is slated to produce 140,000 tonnes per year from a reserve of 250 million tonnes grading 1% copper.

The 118 property is a 50/50 joint venture between CVRD and the Banco do Desenvolvimento, the federal development bank.