Xstrata inks US$122mil deal with HPL

XSTRATA has signed off on a US$122 million investment in its US$5.3 billion Papua New Guinea copper-gold joint venture with Highlands Pacific.
The decision takes its investment in the project to more than US$250 million.
Australian-listed Highlands Pacific said the investment would fund a bankable feasibility study on the Frieda project, following the recent release of a pre-feasibility study, which showed the site was a world-class asset.
“Frieda already has a world-scale resource endowment and we look forward to the release in December of an updated mineral resource estimate, which will again showcase the quality of the deposit,” Highlands managing director John Gooding said.
The pre-feasibility study estimated that the project would produce an average of 246,000 tonnes per annum of copper and 379,000 ounces of gold in the first eight years.
“This would potentially place Frieda in the top 15 of the world’s current copper mines and among the lowest in operating costs,” the company said.
Xstrata needs to finalise the bankable feasibility study by January 2012 to maintain its 81.82% interest and management rights of the project.