Anglo American announces a 19% increase to mineral resources and ore reserves at Collahuasi
07 February, 2013
Anglo American plc draws attention to the announcement made by Collahuasi, its 44% owned copper mine in Chile. The translated text of that announcement is included below.
Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi SCM announces a significant increase to its Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves following its 2012 resources estimation process.
The new Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource has increased by 1.4 billion tonnes to over 9.0 billion tonnes at an average grade of 0.81% copper and 0.02% of molybdenum. This represents a 19% increase on the previous estimate published in December 2011. Total contained copper metal has increased by 23% to around 73 million tonnes.
Ore Reserves have increased by 10% compared to the previous year, up 292 million tonnes to a total of 3.2 billion tonnes at an average grade of 0.81% copper. This new estimate is the result of new drill results, geological modelling updates, mining design optimization and adjustments to metal price assumptions.
Collahuasi Chief Executive Officer, Jorge Gomez, said: “This impressive uplift in our mineral resource base at Collahuasi clearly indicates the significant potential for further expansion at Collahuasi. We continue to work on bringing increased stability to our processes through operational improvements to ensure we can capitalize on this world-class resource.”
Collahuasi’s Resources and Reserves* as of December 31, 2012
| MINERAL RESOURCES: OXIDES + MIXED | MTON | %TCu | Copper Content(Mton) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEASURED + INDICATED | 45 | 0.62 | 0.3 |
| INFERRED | 11 | 0.56 | 0.1 |
| TOTAL | 56 | 0.61 | 0.4 |
| MINERAL RESOURCES: SULPHIDES | MTON | %TCu | % Mo | Copper Content(Mton) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEASURED + INDICATED | 4,570 | 0.83 | 0.02 | 38.0 |
| INFERRED | 4,450 | 0.80 | 0.02 | 35.6 |
| TOTAL | 9,020 | 0.81 | 0.02 | 73.0 |
| ORE RESERVES: OXIDES + MIXED | MTON | %TCu | Copper Content(Mton) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PROVED | 31 | 0.59 | 0.2 |
| PROBABLE | 13 | 0.70 | 0.1 |
| TOTAL | 44 | 0.62 | 0.3 |
| ORE RESERVES: SULPHIDES | MTON | %TCu | % Mo | Copper Content(Mton) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PROVED | 419 | 1.00 | 0.02 | 4.2 |
| PROBABLE | 2,724 | 0.79 | 0.02 | 21.5 |
| TOTAL | 3,143 | 0.81 | 0.02 | 25.7 |
Ore Reserves included in Mineral Resources
*Competent persons: Mr. Mario Quiñones V. and Mr. Luis Aedo S., who are full time Collahuasi employees, are responsible for the Quality of exploration data used as the basis for Collahuasi’s Resource estimates, of the geological interpretations that constrain the Resource estimates and the transformation of the Resources into Reserves. Both are Competent Persons under the meaning of the 2004 JORC Code. Numbers may not be exact as they have been rounded for tabulation.
Notes to editors:
Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi SCM is located in the Región of Tarapacá, Chile, and produced 284,000 tonnes of fine copper in 2012. Its shareholders are Xstrata Plc 44%, Anglo American Plc 44% and a Japanese consortium headed by Mitsui. Collahuasi provides direct and indirect employment to more than 7,000 people.
www.collahuasi.cl
Anglo American is one of the world’s largest mining companies, is headquartered in the UK and listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. Anglo American’s portfolio of mining businesses spans bulk commodities – iron ore and manganese, metallurgical coal and thermal coal; base metals – copper and nickel; and precious metals and minerals – in which it is a global leader in both platinum and diamonds. Anglo American is committed to the highest standards of safety and responsibility across all its businesses and geographies and to making a sustainable difference in the development of the communities around its operations. The company’s mining operations, extensive pipeline of growth projects and exploration activities span southern Africa, South America, Australia, North America, Asia and Europe.
www.angloamerican.com