Gibraltar Mines Ltd and Cominco Engineering Services Ltd (CESL) have commissioned BATEMAN and HATCH in Vancouver, Canada to jointly conduct a feasibility study on a proposed copper refinery to produce copper cathode from copper concentrates at the existing Gibraltar mine. The Gibraltar mine is located near the City of Williams Lake in south central British Columbia, Canada.

The refinery is based on an innovative hydrometallurgical process developed by CESL. This feasibility study follows a review by BATEMAN of an earlier scoping study by CESL/Gibraltar on the process design and projected capital and operating costs. The review supported the conclusion that the process was technically sound and a refinery could reasonably reduce the projected cash cost of copper produced at the mine, due mainly to the elimination of off-site concentrate shipping and smelting/refining costs.

The proposed flow sheet for the copper refinery at Gibraltar is in many respects similar to the Mount Gordon process in Australia, which integrates low-pressure oxidation for treating run- of-mine ore to produce cathode copper.

BATEMAN was involved with the design and construction of the Mount Gordon copper project which successfully commenced production in 1998.

More information may be obtained from Tony Cau, BATEMAN Business Manager, Copper, on +61-7- 3320-3333 or email basemetals@batemanengineering.com

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