COPPER: Cobre Panama makes initial 25-t for First Quantum

[caption id="attachment_1003728456" align="aligncenter" width="475"] Flotation circuit in the Cobre Panama copper concentrator. (Image: First Quantum Minerals)[/caption] PANAMA – First Quantum Minerals of Vancouver has offered an  update on progress at the Cobre Panama copper mine as it made 25 tonnes of copper during the first quarter of this year. The project is on track to deliver between 140,000 and 175,000 tonnes in 2019. About 80% of total output will occur in the second half of the year as the mill ramps up to its annual capacity of 72 million tonnes by the end of this year. Also at the mine site, First Quantum  has finished and begun commissioning the power plant. In the mill the first train has been completed and commissioned with ore. The No.1 and 2 semi-autonomous grinding (SAG) mills is underway as is similar work on three ball mills. First Quantum chairman and CEO Philip Pascall said, “We are now realizing the benefits of good design and quality assurance in construction.  It is especially rewarding to see our plans for environmental management functioning as intended, and the meaningful partnerships we have built with local communities are already playing an integral role in the operation of Cobre Panama.” First Quantum also has producing mines in Turkey, Mauritania, Zambia, Spain, and Finland. Together these operations produced 145,358 tonnes of copper and 45,929 oz. of gold in Q1 2019. The all-in sustaining cost was US$1.72 per lb. of copper and the realized price per pound sold was US$2.74. Please see www.First-Quantum.com for the full Q1 2019 report.