Chile firm to stop silver processing

REUTERS

Santiago, Apr 2: Placer Dome's La Coipa Chilean Gold and Silver Operation will stop processing silver from the nearby Chimberos deposit, by September or October, a company official said. The company will then once again process gold and silver from La Coipa, William Hayes, president of Placer Dome Latin America, said. La Coipa began processing Chimberos' silver in July 1998. Together, Chimberos and La Coipa are expected to produce 22 million ounces of silver this year, which is similar to the nearly 20 million ounces of silver produced last year.

In addition, La Coipa is seen producing 20,000 ounces of gold this year. Next year, La Coipa is expected to produce 3,50,000 to 4,00,000 ounces of gold equivalent. There are no expansion plans, Hayes said. Hayes sees the price of gold rebounding mildly in the second half of this year. Gold closed at $279.60/80.10 an ounce in London on Wednesday.

Placer Dome's Zaldivar copper mine, of which it owns 50 per cent, aims this year to surpass its design capacity of1,25,000 tonnes of contained copper, he said. It produced 1,35,000 tonnes of contained copper last year, of which 1,31,500 tonnes were contained in cathodes.

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