East Otago-based Oceana Gold's northern Philippines gold and copper development mine has exported its first copper-gold concentrate and is expected to report commercial operations during this quarter.
The first shipment of about 5000 tonnes of copper-gold concentrate had left the northern island of Luzon's port for Japanand a second similar shipment was due for export at the end of the month, Oceana chief executive Mick Wilkes said in a statement.
''The [Didipio mine] process plant continues to ramp up well and recoveries of copper are approaching steady-state expectations. Gold recoveries are also increasing and will be further boosted as the gold head grade increases,'' Mr Wilkes said.
Shares in Oceana had dipped from a late-March high of $3.44 to $2.90 recently, but had since retraced to $2.95. Oceana is forecasting the Didipio copper take will offset overall gold production costs in New Zealand, making it more competitive and profitable. Oceana has about 1500 tonnes of copper-gold concentrate stockpiled at the port and 8800 tonnes at the mine site.
The capital cost estimate for Didipio's development was about $US320 million ($NZ375 million) inclusive of contingencies. The mine plan is expected to support about four years of open-pit mining and nine years of underground mining, plus a further two years of stockpile processing.
At full production, the Didipio mine is estimated to produce 100,000 ounces of gold and 14,000 tonnes of copper annually during its estimated 16-year mine life.
