The first shipment of 10,000 metric tons (mt) of copper concentrate from MMB Ltd.’s Las Bambas in Peru departed from the Port of Matarani to China on January 15. The first copper concentrate was produced at Las Bambas in late December, with 9,121 mt of copper in copper concentrate achieved in the quarter. Further shipments will continue in January.
“We have been working toward this milestone since we acquired the world-class Las Bambas project in August 2014,” said MMG Chief Executive Officer Andrew Michelmore. “First production, transport and shipment are a tribute to the operations and project teams who have worked so hard to build and commission the project.”
Once Las Bambas is in full production, it is expected to have an annual nameplate capacity of 51.1 million mt, a daily throughput of 140,000 mt, and will be one of the top three copper producing mines in the world, Michelmore added.
MMG expects to produce 250,000–300,000 mt of copper in copper concentrate at Las Bambas in 2016. It is anticipated that commercial production will be achieved during the second half of 2016. Production costs are expected to be between $0.80–$0.90/lb once production is at a steady pace and within the first quartile of the cost curve.
