"The high copper recoveries from this initial leach test work are regarded as 'excellent'. Internal scoping studies are underway for a proposed on-site bacterial heap leach operation of up to 2 million metric tons per annum," company president and chief executive Brett Taylor said in a statement.
"This approach offers the potential of early production and early cash flow with additional benefits that include lower capital cost, lower operating cost, enhanced global long-term competitiveness in copper-gold production and supply," he added.
The test was conducted using Pacific Ore Ltd.'s BioHeap leaching technology.
Heap leaching is a chemical process to obtain copper. Two main techniques for treating sulfide ores by heap leaching are bacterial heap leaching and acid heap leaching.
The Tagpura porphyry copper-gold deposit has a conceptual potential tonnage of 1 billion to 1.7 billion tons with a potential grade range of 0.3% copper and 0.17 grams/ton gold to 0.7% copper and 0.31 grams/ton gold.
The property is situated in Compostela Valley in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao.
-By Rhea Sandique-Carlos, Dow Jones Newswires, 63-918-9014158; rhea.sandique-carlos@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-03-09 2350ET

More News:
Market Updates |
Stock Alerts |
All Trading News |
Stock Index