BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 5
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan’s KAZ Minerals is planning to resume implementation of the Baimskaya copper project in Russia, which was restricted in 2Q2020 in order to contain the COVID-19 spread, Trend reports with reference to the company.
The company presented its renewed parameters for the project development based on the feasibility study.
“Work on Baimskaya copper project was limited due to the COVID-19 in 2Q2020. At the same time, equipment and materials for primary work planned for this year were previously delivered to the site. The operations are expected to resume at the appropriate time, the planned capital expenditures for 2020 of $150 million are retained,” the company said.
The company also noted that due to the need for additional time to complete the development of the project’s infrastructure scheme, including delays due to COVID-19, the banking feasibility study is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
“Based on the results of drilling operations and the results of a banking feasibility study obtained by now, some of the key parameters of the Baimskaya project have been changed compared to those announced previously,” the company said.
Thus, drilling results indicate a potential increase in Mineral Resources, which will lead to a significant increase in the lifetime of the mine, which previously was about 25 years;
Taking into consideration the increased Mineral Resources and access to the latest technology due to the equipment suppliers, the project was optimized by increasing the design capacity of the processing plant from 60 to 70 million tons of processed ore.
“Current plan of the enrichment plant construction involves a sequential increase in production at the two production lines with an interval of about 12 to 18 months, which will reduce peak financing needs compared to the simultaneous launch,” the company said.
Furthermore, the estimated capital budget of the project was increased to approximately $7 billion after a more detailed cost estimate.
“Larger mining equipment, additional facilities for maintenance, and living quarters at the mine will be required. About 10 percent of the capital budget are expected to fall on the period after the start of the first line production. The construction required time remains at around seven years,” the company said.
KAZ Minerals is the largest copper producer in Kazakhstan, focused on the mining of copper and the development of new copper mining projects in Kazakhstan and Russia.
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