COPPER MOUNTAIN PROJECT NEARING CONSTRUCTION COMPLETION
VANCOUVER, Feb. 23 /CNW/ --
TSX: CUM
VANCOUVER, Feb. 23 /CNW/ - Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (TSX: CUM) (the 'Company' or 'Copper Mountain') announces that construction work on the Company's Copper Mountain
Project continues to proceed on schedule and as planned. The overall
schedule for the project remains unchanged with construction expected
to be completed by the end of April 2011, commissioning of equipment is
scheduled to occur during May 2011, and full production scheduled to be
achieved by the end of June 2011. Preproduction mining is advancing
with half of the Company's mining fleet in operation. The Company
expects the second half of the mining fleet to be in operation by mid
April 2011. The Company's main loading unit, the PC 8000 shovel is
performing as expected and is loading the 240 ton trucks to make the
planned production rate of 90,000 tonnes per day. In addition to the
one PC8000 shovel in operation, nine haul trucks have been assembled
and commissioned as of last week. Preproduction mining activities
commenced in the Pit 3 area and will continue with the push-back on the
western wall until the second PC 8000 is in operation, at which time
shovel #2 will commence a push back on the eastern wall.
Installation of the grinding mills is proceeding and are expected to be
ready for testing by the end of April. Mechanical installation in the
concentrator is well advanced with the bulk of construction activities
directed at piping and electrical activities.
A commissioning team has been established for testing the plant
equipment as it is completed by the contractor. The 60 inch gyratory
primary crusher and associated conveyor system is virtually completed
for turn over to the commissioning team by next week. Similarly, the
ore stockpile recovery system and pebble crusher are essentially
mechanically completed.
The Company has now concluded multiyear agreements for: the trucking of
concentrate to the port, the port storage and loading, and for the
ocean freight. The project currently has 534 workers on site, of which
180 are Copper Mountain personnel and the rest associated with the
construction activities. At full production, the project will employ
271 personnel.
About Copper Mountain Mining Corporation:
Copper Mountain is a Canadian resource company managed by an experienced
team of professionals with a solid track record of exploration and
development success. The Company's shares trade on the Toronto Stock
Exchange under the symbol 'CUM'. Copper Mountain owns 75% and
Mitsubishi Materials Corporation owns 25% of the Copper Mountain
Project. The 18,000 acre mine site is located 20 km south of the town
of Princeton in southern British Columbia. The Copper Mountain Project
has a current resource of approximately 5 billion pounds of copper, the
Copper Mountain Project is fully financed ($438M) and in construction
and on schedule for the mine to produce approximately 100 million
pounds of copper per year by mid 2011. Additional information is
available on the Company's web page at www.CuMtn.com.
On behalf of the Board of
COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION
'Jim O'Rourke'
J.C.(Jim )O'Rourke,P Eng.
Chief Executive Officer
Note: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from
actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the
documents, filed by the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk
factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained
in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no
obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or
to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statement.
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Galina Meleger, Corporate Communications 604-682-2992 ext.224 Email: Galina.meleger@CuMtn.com or
Rod Shier, Chief Financial Officer 604-682-2992 ext.222 Email: Rod@CuMtm.com
Website: www.CuMtn.com