Ramu Nickel On Track, Frieda River Copper Project May Go Bigger
July 22 2009 - 2:48AM
Dow Jones News
The US$1.4 billion Ramu nickel project in Papua New Guinea is on
schedule for completion and commissioning before the end of the
this year, part-owner Highlands Pacific Ltd. (HIG.AU) said in a
quarterly report Wednesday.
Work on the project, set to produce 31,150 metric tons of nickel
and 3,300 tons of cobalt annually, has continued peacefully since
upheaval in May that left a number of Chinese workers hospitalized,
Highlands said.
Ramu is majority owned by China Metallurgical Group Corp., or
MCC, while Highlands Pacific has an 8.56% interest in the project,
with an option to raise its stake to 11.30%.
Success of the high-pressure acid leach Ramu project is closely
watched as a gauge for other such operations such as Vale's (VALE)
Goro project in New Caledonia.
Separately, Highlands said a pre-feasibility study at Xstrata
Plc's (XTA.LN) US$2.57 billion Frieda River copper-gold project in
Papua New Guinea, where Highlands owns a 16.9% stake, is
considering an enlargement of the mine.
A 2008 scoping study envisaged production of 160,000 tons of
copper and 240,000 troy ounces of gold annually at 26 U.S. cents a
pound and US$700/oz.
"Higher throughput rates are now being considered as part of the
pre-feasibility study," Highlands said in a statement.
Construction is planned to start in 2012, and output in
2016.
-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;
61-2-8272-4689 elisabeth.behrmann@dowjones.com
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