COPPER: Red Chris produces first copper concentrate

BRITISH COLUMBIA – The Red Chris copper-gold mine 80 km south of Dease Lake has made its first copper concentrate, reported owner Imperial Metals of Vancouver. Both the semi-autogenous and ball mill drive systems have been operated at 100% load. The flotation circuits and secondary regrind mill are being commissioned with low grade ore.

The project cost an estimated $643 million to build. It features a conventional open pit mine and 30,000-t/d flotation mill. It is expected to have a 28-year mine life.

Imperial noted that it is using a P&H 2800 electric cable shovel and a fleet of Cat 793 trucks in both the east and main zones. The Red Chris deposit contains 1.22 billion tonnes of measured and indicated resources that grade 0.327% Cu and 0.327 g/t Au. In terms of contained metal, that is 8.78 billion lb of copper and 12.80 million oz of gold.

More information is available at ImperialMetals.com. The latest updates about the Mount Polley tailings dam breach are also available at the company's website.