Anglo American has reported a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 1.2 billion mt grading 1.46% copper and 0.02% molybdenum for its Los Sulfatos copper prospect 6 km south of its existing Los Bronces copper operations in central Chile. The Los Sulfatos porphyry copper and breccia complex is located within and under high mountain ridges at altitudes between 4,000 and 4,500 m approximately 50 km northeast of Santiago. The deposit is open in various directions, and Anglo American expects to develop it into a resource of between 4 billion and 5 billion mt at grades of between 0.8% and 1.0% copper.
Anglo American is preparing to drive an exploration tunnel into the deposit to provide access for additional drilling. The tunnel is expected to cost about $60 million and will be excavated by a tunnel boring machine that is currently being assembled on site. Excavation of the tunnel is expected to take two years.
The Los Sulfatos copper sulphide mineralization is hosted in a multi-phase porphyry stock and breccia complex. (www.angloamerican.co.uk)
