Having received a commitment of US$35 million from a syndicate of international banks led by Barclays Bank PLC, Azco Mining (TSE) will soon begin construction at its Sanchez copper project in southeastern Arizona.
A capital cost of US$79 million is projected for the open-pit, heap-leach operation. This includes US$40.6 million for construction of a processing plant capable of crushing 12 million tons per year and producing, on average, 56 million lb. copper per year through solvent extraction-electrowinning. The cash operating cost is estimated at 52 cents per lb.
The oxide porphyry copper deposit contains minable reserves of 229 million tons grading 0.29% copper with a stripping ratio of 0.81-to-1. Proven reserves of 1.1 billion lb. of recoverable copper will sustain a mine life for 20 years.
Financing commitments to date total US$70 million, including US$15 million of lease financing arranged to fund heavy-equipment purchases from Caterpillar and a US$20-million credit line that may be used to support a copper-hedging program.
All environmental permitting has been completed and an agreement is in place for AIOC, a worldwide metals and commodities trading firm, to buy all of Azco’s copper production.
Be the first to comment on "Azco secures Sanchez financing"