Toledo mines' initial yield over 745K MT copper ore

MANILA, Philippines - Listed Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. has produced a total of 745,359 dry metric tons (MT) of ore from its copper mine in Cebu since it started operations in October, the company said Friday. In a disclosure, Atlas Mining said its initial ore output was processed to produce 4,744.31 dry MT of copper concentrates. The Toledo copper mines, operated by Atlas’ subsidiary Carmen Copper Corp., can process 20,000 MT of ore daily. In the first half of 2009, the mine is expected to process 42,000 MT after the second phase of rehabilitation. Atlas said it would sell the first 30,000 MT of copper concentrate produce to Swiss firm MRI Trading AG. In August, the miner signed a deal to sell 60,000 MT of copper concentrates — copper mixed with ore — to MRI Trading under a hedge price of $7,612.50 per MT. It will complete the deliveries in June next year. The resumption of operations at the Toledo mine has generated 5,580 jobs, it said. The drop in global copper prices led to the closure of the Toledo mines in 1994. The rehabilitation of the copper mine started two years ago when Carmen Copper got a $40-million loan from a foreign investment fund. - BusinessWorld