Copper Mountain starts up mill at new BC mine

TSX-listed Copper Mountain Mining has started processing ore at its namesake copper project in British Columbia, the company said on Monday.

The start-up has gone “smoothly”, with full production expected by the middle of the month, the firm said in a statement.

Copper Mountain has been stockpiling ore from preproduction mining, and has a stockpile of more than 190 000 t of mill feed from the new primary crusher.

“The processing plant and related facilities are all functioning well and meeting our expectations,” the company said.

Vancouver-based Copper Mountain reported on May 28 that it had received a “standard” force majeure notice from Mitsubishi Materials Corp's Onahama smelter, said the start-up schedule for the new mine would not be affected.

Mitsubishi owns a 25% stake in the mine and has an offtake agreement for all of the concentrate produced from the Copper Mountain mine in British Columbia.

Mitsubishi suspended operations at its Onahama copper smelter after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year, but has told Copper Mountain it will take steps to fulfill its obligations “in good faith”.

The Japanese firm also operates another smelter in Japan, as well as a facility in Indonesia.

Copper Mountain achieved mechanical completion at its $438-million project in April.