COPPER DEVELOPMENT: Nevada Copper breaks ground for Pumpkin Hollow shaft

NEVADA – Ground was broken on Feb. 18, 2012, for the shaft at the Pumpkin Hollow copper project belonging to Nevada Copper of Vancouver. The ceremony was attended by governor Brian Sandoval, former state assembly speaker Joe Dini, congressman Mark Amodei and Nevada Copper president Giulio Bonifacio.

The deposit is located near Yerington, 160 km southeast of Reno. The deposit is believed to host more than 24 billion lb of copper. Nevada Copper is developing a 54,000-t/d pit and a 6,800-t/d underground mine to feed a single 61,200-t/d mill. Initial capital costs are estimated to be $1.04 billion.

The shaft will have a diameter of 7.3 metres and be 670-metres deep. In the first five years of operation, annual production will be 274 million lb of copper, 53,000 oz of gold and 1.1 million oz of silver.

The governor's speech can be found at: NevadaCopper.com/i/media/Nevada-Copper-Video.html.