Frieda river

http://www.panaust.com.au

gold, copper, Camp, FiFo

Phone: 

Address: PNG, 

State:  PNG,

Email: 

http://www.panaust.com.au

 

The Frieda River Gold and Copper Project is located on the border of twoPapua New Guinea provinces, East Sepik and Sandaun. It is situated among the foothills of the Schattenberg Range. The project takes in four gold and copper deposits and several other prospects along a 10 kilometres trend making the Frieda River Project one of the biggest known undeveloped copper deposits in the world.

Frieda River Mine to be Developed as an Open pit Operation

It is proposed to mine the Frieda River copper and gold deposit as an open pit mining operation using a single processing facility that contains a SAG mill and two ball mills. It has been reported that over the life of the mine, around 600 million tonnes of ore will have been mined with an average processing rate of 30 million tonnes a year, giving the mine a productive life of around 20 years. During this time the Frieda River Mine will produce 125,000 tonnes of copper concentrate a year and 200,000 ounces of gold in concentrate form annually.

Frieda River Mine to Process Soft Ore for First Five Years

The first five years of production at the Frieda River mine will be involved in mining and processing relatively soft ore, therefore, the processing mill throughput will be 20 percent more than the long term average. After the initial five years it is expected the ore will become progressively harder. This will slow the throughput rate down to around 20 percent less than the long term average in the mines final years of production.

Frieda River Mine to be Developed in Stages

The Frieda River copper and gold mine will be developed in stages, therefore, there will be a lower development cost in the first stage as the processing facilities will be expanded in years three to five. It is also proposed that the project could involve the construction of a hydro-power generating plant which would give the operation a renewable and sustainable power source while at the same time incorporate water balance with a tailings storage catchment. It is planned for the feasibility study into the Frieda River Project to be completed and a special mining licence application submitted before November, 2015.

Frieda River Project Majority Owned by PanAust Limited

PanAust Limited, is the majority owner of the Frieda River Copper and Gold Project, with an 80 percent interest. It is managing the project with joint venture partner, Highlands Pacific, which holds a 20 percent interest. PanAust Limited also holds approximately14 percent interest in Highlands Pacific. When the Papua New Guinea Government issues the joint venture partners a Special Mining Licence to operate the Frieda River Project as a mining operation, it will then have a right to acquire a 30 percent interest in the venture . If this option is exercised PanAust will sell down its shareholding to 55 percent and Highlands Pacific will sell down its interest to 15 percent, leaving the remaining 30 percent ownership in the hands of the Papua New Guinea Government.

During the last quarter of 2014 an important milestone agreement was reached with landowners within the Frieda River exploration permit area, this area is the same as that of the Special Mining Lease Application, to take their place in a Local Court Mediation, in order that they be legallyrecognised and agree to customary landownership over the Freida River resource. The agreement legally recognises two cultural groups and six villages as the collective owners of the project. This paves the way for talks to begin on completing a compensation agreement between the local land owners group and PanAust Limited, in readiness for the granting of the Special Mining Lease.