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Sepon copper plant to increase production this year
Sepon copper mine in the central province of Savannakhet will increase its copper production capacity this year as its expansion project nears completion.
MMG Group Manager for Corporate Affairs Asia Mr Richard Taylor said that the roughly US$160 million expansion of the copper plant will be completed and begin commercial operations this year.
“The expansion project is running on track and the plant will begin full operations this year,” he said, as quoted in the Socio-Economic Daily newspaper on January 12.
The expansion will enable the copper mine to increase its production capacity from 65,000 tonnes to 80,500 tonnes per year, he said.
MMG Lane Xang Mineral Ltd, a subsidiary of the Australia-based MMG Group is operating the Sepon copper and gold operation, the largest mining project in Laos. The project occupies a 1,250sq km area located some 40km north of Xepon district in Savannakhet. The company commenced gold production in 2002 and copper in 2005.
The Sepon Copper Expansion project began in 2008 but was suspended during the global financial crisis. The investment project resumed at the end of 2010 after a US$60.4 million financial boost from MMG Group, which completed its takeover of the mine from OZ Minerals in mid-2009.
The parent company of Lane Xang Mineral Ltd also approved US$3.7 million for the design and construction of a flotation desliming circuit at Xepon to improve pyrite recovery.
Another major mining company in Laos, Phu Bia Mining, which operates a copper and gold mine in Vientiane province, announced last month that it had revised its production guidance for 2010 from 60,000 tonnes to 67,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, and from 60,000 ounces to 65,000 ounces of gold.
PanAust, the parent company of Phu Bia, has approved US$110 million worth of investment to increase ore processing and metal recoveries at the Phu Kham mine.
The investment will deliver an increase in copper in concentrate production to between 65,000 and 70,000 tonnes per year by mid-2012.
The price of copper in the world market has continued to increase due to the recovery of the world economy. At present, the price of copper is about US$9,260 per tonne, up from about US$3,091 per tonne during the global financial crisis.
The Lao government expects that the mining sector will remain one of the main driving forces of its economy this fiscal year. The government expects exports of gold and copper from Sepon and Phu Bia to reach US$755 million this fiscal year, accounting for 97 percent of Laos' total mining exports.
Lao mining output is expected to see a 61 percent increase this fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
vientiane times
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