OceanaGold to start Didipio mine production in coming weeks

MANILA, Philippines - Australian miner OceanaGold Corporation (OGC) will begin production of copper-gold concentrate in its Didipio mine in Nueva Vizcaya in the coming weeks as it commissions the mines’ mineral processing plant.

In a statement issued yesterday, the company said that the structural, mechanical and piping work for the mineral processing plant has been completed. A commissioning team made up of 30 members is focused on ramping up the process plant.

“We are very pleased to announce that we have commenced milling at Didipio. In June 2011, we set a goal to commence commissioning the Didipio project in the fourth quarter of 2012 and we have met that objective. Over the next week, we will bring the flotation circuit on line and start to introduce ore to the plant. We expect to be producing copper-gold concentrate in the coming weeks,” said OGC managing director and CEO Mick Wilkes.

The mineral facility is located north of the open pit mine. Ore processing will be done by conventional SAG/Ball mill grinding circuit followed by froth flotation for the recovery of copper-gold concentrate. A gravity circuit is incorporated within the grinding circuit to produce gold bullion on site.

The concentrate will be transported by road to the mine’s port facilities for export.

OGC has signed an offtake agreement with international commodity trading firm Trafigura for the sale and purchase of 100 percent of the copper concentrate from the Didipio mine.

The Didipio mine is expected to produce 100,000 ounces of gold and 14,000 tons of copper per year over an estimated 16-year mine life.

It will become the first mining tenement in the country to operate under Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA).

OGC operates in the country through its local arm OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc.

After the commissioning of the mine, the company plans to conduct a definitive feasibility study for the expansion of the ore processing plant’s  current capacity by 2013.

In its 2012 Fact Book, the firm reported that the mine’s mineral processing facility currently has an initial throughput capacity of 2.5 million tons per annum (Mtpa) building up to 3.5 Mtpa by the end of 2014.

“The plant has been designed in a linear formation allowing for future expansion,” the company said in the report.

With the planned expansion of the plant’s capacity, the throughput is seen to increase to five Mtpa beyond 2014.

OceanaGold said the expansion of the plant would require additional ball mills, flotation, power supplies and thickeners.

With the expansion of the plant capacity, the nominal production rate is forecast to increase to 150,000 ounces of gold per annum and 20,000 tons of copper per annum.