LONDON (Alliance News) - Atalaya Mining PLC on Thursday said its updated block model for the Riotinto copper project in Spain provides it with more confidence over the distribution of mineralisation and a better understanding of the potential impurity levels, which will enhance the efficiency of its mine planning.
The copper mining and development company said its total open-pit mineral estimate stands at 153.0 million tonnes averaging at 0.45% copper using variable, declining cut-off grades for 681,000 tonnes of contained copper metal. This estimate is based on the mined surface of the open pit as at April 30.
The previous estimate, gained through a deposit model, stood at 123.0 million tonnes, averaging at 0.49% copper using cut-off grade for 606,000 tonnes of contained copper metal.
The mine life is estimated at 16.5 years, Atalaya Mining said, and the ultimate open pit design has a waste-to-ore ratio of 1.9:1.
"We have completed our infill drilling programme, assays and updating of the block model. These results have provided us with greatly improved confidence in the overall distribution of mineralisation and a much better understanding of the potential impurity levels which will enhance the efficiency of our mine planning," said Chief Executive Alberto Lavandeira.
Shares in Atalaya were down 0.7% at 102.30 pence on Thursday morning.
By Hannah Boland; hannahboland@alliancenews.com; @Hannaheboland
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