Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Toledo mine completes rehab
CARMEN Copper, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. (ACMDC), is set to start commercial production of its Toledo copper mine next month, following the completion of its phase one rehabilitation.
Carmen Copper vice president and resident manager Rodrigo Cal explained that all safety mechanisms of the mine site are also in place. He said they have placed siltation ponds that normalize the acidity levels of the water that passes through their pits before they are being washed away into the sea.
The completion of the 10-month, phase one rehabilitation is expected to process 20,000 metric tons (MT) of copper from the South Lutopan Pit per day.
“With this start-up, our company will begin a historic journey of bringing the Toledo mine to equal, if not surpass, the previous operations,” said Alfredo Ramos, chairman of ACMDC.
The whole rehabilitation process is expected to be completed by the middle of 2009 where full-capacity operations will produce 42,000 MT per day.
The Toledo Mine site began operations in 1955 where 677 million metric tons of ore have already been extracted. But Cal said that the mine still has an ore source of 873 million MT, capable of producing copper for the next 20 to 30 years. (PR)
