The 77m dollars run-of-mine (ROM) project at northern Chile's El Abra copper mine is expected to come on stream late in the next quarter of 2002, boosting production by some 35,000 tpy for seven years by leaching low-grade oxide material, Phelps Dodge Mining president Timothy Snider told analysts recently. Phelps Dodge, based in Phoenix, Arizona, has 51 percent of El Abra, which is designed to produce 225,000 tpy of copper using SX/EW technology, and Chile's state copper corporation Codelco has the other 49 percent interest. Snider said the ROM project was "on schedule and below budget", but company officials had previously said it was due to come on line in the first quarter of this year.
NSTL
