With an air-quality permit in hand for its proposed Safford copper mine in Arizona, Phelps Dodge (PD-N) says it plans to start building the mine near Safford, Ariz., next month.
Production should begin sometime during the second half of 2008, averaging about 120,000 short tons of copper each year. Copper closed at US$3.48 per lb. on the London Metal Exchange on July 10.
The air quality division of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued the permit today. The permit was the final hurdle for development of Safford.
Phelps Dodge has been on-site at Safford for several months, preparing it for construction.
The first major construction milestone — the pouring of concrete for a secondary — crusher is scheduled for late August. Phelps has budgeted US$550 million to build the mine.
Phelps Dodge estimates that the new mine will employ up to 1,000 workers at peak construction; another 400 will work there full-time and an additional 100 employees will work on a contract basis. Phelps estimates there will be about 250-300 “spinoff” jobs created as a result of the mine.
Phelps recently made a friendly US$40-billion offer for Canadian miners, Falconbridge (FAL-T, FAL-N) and Inco (N-T, N-N).
Phelps Dodge is one of the world’s largest copper producers and is the largest producer of molybdenum-based chemicals and continuous-cast copper rod. The company employs 13,500 people worldwide.
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