|
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. announced that a groundbreaking ceremony for the Trident project in Kalumbila, Northwestern Province, Zambia, was held on April 29, 2011.
The ceremony was attended by Zambia’s President Rupiah Banda, traditional leaders led by Senior Chief Musele, senior government officials and local residents. In his speech, President Banda noted First Quantum’s growth in Zambia, its investment in several social projects, its status as the country’s largest single taxpayer and the positive impact of the mining industry on the country’s economy. President Banda also reiterated his government’s commitment to making Zambia a preferred destination for capital investments by international investors. In his remarks, First Quantum’s Chairman and CEO, Mr. Philip Pascall, reaffirmed the Company’s long-term commitment to the Government and people of Zambia and the project’s positive impact to the country’s economy through the creation of more than 2,000 direct jobs and by providing a catalyst for large-scale infrastructure development in the region. Update on the Sentinel Deposit The Company also confirmed that it has, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Kalumbila Minerals Limited, received the relevant large scale mining licences for development of the Trident project from the Government of the Republic of Zambia. The Trident project comprises the Sentinel copper deposit and the Enterprise and Intrepid targets. The licences give First Quantum the exclusive rights to carry out mining operations on the full area of interest at Trident for a period of 25 years. The receipt of the licences is a major step forward in First Quantum’s plans to develop the Sentinel deposit on which it has conducted an extensive drill program since April 2010 and developed a comprehensive internal study. To date, over 140,000 metres of drilling has been completed in more than 380 holes. The program is scheduled to complete definition drilling of the main resource in May 2011 and resource modeling and optimization studies are planned for Q3 2011. Drilling emphasis will then move to the eastern end of the deposit where, despite lower and more variable copper grades, some reasonable nickel and cobalt intercepts in recent and historical drilling make this area an attractive target for further work. Based on its internally-generated resource estimate, First Quantum is proceeding with the design of a project that could produce annually 150,000 tonnes of copper initially then rising up to 300,000 tonnes of copper. Once the resource drilling is complete, the production target may be increased further. First Quantum expects to have a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource statement available in mid 2011. Subject to final permits, results of the on-going resource and mine studies and approval by the Company’s Board of Directors, it is expected that the initial design and construction phases could commence during 2011 with commercial production in early 2014. It should be noted that the potential quantities and grades and other technical parameters presented in this document in relation to the Sentinel deposit are conceptual in nature only. There has been insufficient exploration to define a NI-43-101 compliant resource and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in the Sentinel deposit being delineated as a mineral resource and whether the Sentinel deposit will be developed into a mine. |
