Teck Cominco tables huge copper resource

VANCOUVER — Base metals giant Teck Cominco(TCK. B-T, TCK-N)has released a resource for a major new zone of copper-molybdenum mineralization at its 76.5%-owned Quebrada Blanca mine in northern Chile, beneath the orebody currently being mined.

An inferred resource of 1.03 billion tonnes grading 0.5% copper and 0.02% molybdenum — roughly 11 billion contained pounds copper and 450 million contained pounds molybdenum — has been reviewed in a hypogene zone (primary sulphide) underlying the enriched supergene ore being mined by open pit.

Of the more than 1 billion tonnes of new resource, the company has identified a higher-grade zone in the bottom of the existing enriched sulphide (supergene) pit that contains about 300 million tonnes grading 0.55% copper and 0.02% molybdenum.

“That portion of the deposit could provide a substantial starter pit for a five-to ten-year period that would benefit from having been largely prestripped by ongoing mining of the supergene orebody,” said president and CEO Don Lindsay in a statement.

The resource tally is based on 36 holes drilled on roughly 200- metre centres with block models and preliminary pit optimization studies using metal prices of US$1.50 per lb. copper and US$10 per lb. molybdenum, and a 0.3% copper cutoff grade.

“Virtually every one of the thirty-six holes we have drilled into the primary mineralization has ended in ore-grade mineralization, so the potential for expanding this resource is outstanding,” said Lindsay during a presentation at the recent Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. “A doubling of this resource is certainly not a stretch to contemplate.”

Teck acquired the interest in Quebrada Blanca through its friendly $4.1-billion takeover of Aur Resources last year. Aur also contributed 90% of the Andacollo open-pit copper mine in central Chile and the Duck Pond underground copper-zinc mine in central Newfoundland.

Lindsay said that while some questioned the company’s wisdom in paying such a price for Aur, Teck knew of some of the past drilling at Quebrada Blanca — before a mine was built at the deposit — and several of Aur’s drill holes indicating ore-grade mineralization in the deeper hypogene zone.

“We are pleased to be able to report this substantial new resource within months of completing the acquisition of Aur. Our confidence at the time of the Aur acquisition that Quebrada Blanca held tremendous potential value appears to have been justified,” Lindsay said in the statement.

He is also enthused by the fact the new zone at Quebrada Blanca sits in a brownfields environment with existing infrastructure. Lindsay put the potential mine life of the operation at more than 20 years based on the new zone, which would also add a significant molybdenum byproduct credit.

In 2007, the mine produced 183 million lbs. (83,000 tonnes) of cathode copper.

The remaining interest in Quebrada Blanca is held by Inversiones Mineras, a Chilean private company, with 13.5%, and by the Chilean state-owned Empresa Nacional de Min-era, with 10%.