Xstrata Sets Las Bambas Project Cost at $5.2 Billion

Xstrata Copper announced that a $5.2 billion estimate for its Las Bambas project in southern Peru is now in full construction, and set to produce 400,000 metric tons of copper per year beginning in 2015. Constituting at least three open pit mines, the project is anticipated to last 20 years. Along with its $1.5 billion Antapaccay mine and a plant expansion at its Antamina joint venture, also in Peru, “Las Bambas confirms the progressive realization of Xstrata Copper’s ambitious organic growth strategy,” said Xstrata Copper CEO Charlie Sartain. The extra production, he added, will grow Peru’s total copper output to 700,000 mt by 2015.