Suppliers Roundup (September 12, 2005)

GRD Minproc to study Marcona

Chariot Resources (CHD-T) has selected GRD Minproc to conduct scoping and prefeasibility studies on the company’s Marcona oxide and sulphide copper project in Peru.

The prefeasibility study recently started and is expected to be completed in November. Among its many objectives, the study will determine a new resource estimate for the Mina Justa prospect, based on roughly 80,000 metres of drilling. The inferred resource at Mina Justa, determined by AMEC Peru, now stands at 218 million tonnes grading 0.8% copper.

“The calculation of an updated mineral resource estimate for Mina Justa in September and the completion of the scoping [and] prefeasibility study in November will be two significant milestones for Chariot this year,” says Chariot Chairman Alex Black.

The studies will also look at a number of alternatives for the development of the project. Chariot and its joint-venture partners, Korea Resources and LS-Nikko Copper, will select one option that will form the basis of a definitive feasibility study, which is slated to start in December.

Chariot continues infill drilling in the Mina Justa resource area and exploring nearby exploration targets. The company expects to have drilled 55,000 metres in 2005.

GRD Minproc has worked in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay over the last 15 years.

Kennecott Energy buys P&H shovel

Kennecott Energy will commission a new P&H 4100XPB electric shovel at its Antelope coal mining operations in late 2005.

It is the second such machine at the Antelope mine. The operation added another 4100XPB shovel equipped with a 77-cubic-yard dipper to its equipment fleet late last year. The mine also operates three P&H 2300MKII shovels.

Kennecott Energy, a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of London-based Rio Tinto (RTP-N), is a major supplier of low-sulphur, high-energy coal to U.S. power plants. The company operates five coal mines in Wyoming and Colorado producing over 120 million tons annually.

KE’s Antelope mine has posted production increases each year over the past 19 years. The mine is permitted for 32 million tons of coal per year. With a recently acquired concession known as West Antelope, the Antelope mine now has recoverable reserves of about 400 million tons.

Gillette, Wyoming-based P&H MinePro Services Western Operations provides cost-reducing equipment and service support including motor and transmission repairs and rebuilds, machine overhauls and relocations, replacement parts, and logistics support to mines throughout the Powder River Basin region and surrounding states in the Western U.S.

P&H MinePro Services is the global distribution and support arm of P&H Mining Equipment, a supplier of electric rope shovels, large rotary blasthole drills and walking draglines.