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Rio Tinto PLC on Tuesday said it has approved a $55 million investment to begin underground mining at its Kennecott copper operations in Utah.
The Anglo-Australian miner said the US site holds ‘significant and attractive’ potential for underground development.
The mining will focus on the Lower Commercial Skarn, which will yield some 30,000 tonnes of high quality mined copper up to 2027.
It expects first ore production early next year, with full production by the second half of the year.
‘The LCS is the first step...with a mineral resource of 7.5 tonnes at 1.9% copper, 0.84 grammes per tonne gold, 11.26 grammes per tonne silver, and 0.015% molybdenum identified based on drilling and a probable ore reserve of 1.7 tonnes at 1.9% copper, 0.71 grammes per tonne gold, 10.07 grammes per tonne silver, and 0.044% molybdenum,’ it detailed.
It is also progressing feasibility studies to extend open pit mining at Kennecott past 2023.
‘This investment will allow us to quickly bring additional volumes of high-quality copper to the market and build our knowledge and capabilities as we evaluate larger scale underground mining at Kennecott,’ says Chief Executive Bold Baatar.
Shares in Rio Tinto were up 1.8% to 4,782.50 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
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