Expansion at Gunpowder Copper

Aberfoyle Resources Limited has awarded Bateman Kinhill an EPCM (engineering, procurement and construction management) contract to expand the processing capacity at the Gunpowder copper mine in north-west Queensland.

The overall value of the project is Aus$ 140M, with Bateman Kinhill's share being Aus$ 90M. The plant involves tank leaching chalcocite ores at low pressure and temperature, a process developed jointly by Aberfoyle and Bateman Kinhill, followed by solvent extraction (SX) in BATEMAN's patented reverse-flow mixer settlers and electrowinning (EW) to produce cathode copper.

The new plant will cater for the project's initial 10 year life and will expand production from the current level of
8 000 t/yr of London Metal Exchange (LME) A-grade copper to 45 000 t/yr during the six year life of the open pit at Esperanza.

The twelve month feasibility study that preceded this project commenced with an intensive drilling programme by Aberfoyle. The latter then awarded a detailed study to Bateman Kinhill, which won against stiff competition from six major international engineering contracting companies. BATEMAN's copper processing technology, especially SX/EW, and depth of experience on similar plants was a strong distinguishing feature in winning the bid.

The expansion project commenced in July this year with commissioning scheduled for July 1998.

To: Kindly contact Tony Cau, BATEMAN General Manager Copper and Zinc, on +61-7-3320-3333 or
email basemetals@batemanengineering.com, for more information.

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