More Laos work for Ausenco.
19 January, 2006
Ausenco has picked up another overseas development contract, this time for Pan Australian's Phu Kham Copper Gold Project in Laos.
Ausenco has signed the front end engineering and design contract for the project and once this initial work is completed, the agreement will progress to an EPCM contract.
Pan Australian engaged Ausenco to work on the feasibility study for Phu Kham and said the contractor's track record in Southeast Asia in developing Kingsgate's Chatree Gold Mine and Oxiana's Sepon Gold Mine made it an obvious choice.
The company is targeting a 9 million tonne per annum flotation operation at Phu Kham, producing 50,000t of copper and 50,000oz of gold in concentrate annually.
The capital cost estimate for the project stands at US$ 174 million (+/-20%).
A feasibility extension program (FEP) is being conducted by Pan Australian on Phu Kham, which has involved a program of infill drilling.
The company recently said the infill drilling is likely to result in an increase in the resource grade mined at the project by 5-10% by adopting selective mining.
The FEP is expected to be completed shortly and the company expects to be able to formally approve Phu Kham's development at a board meeting in March.
An upgrade of the project's current resource of 160 million tonnes graded 0.66% copper and 0.29 grams per tonne gold is also expected in March.
Pan Australian said once production commences at Phu Kham it will be producing more than 50,000t of copper and 100,000oz of gold from its Laos operations.
The company also operates the Phu Bia Heap Leach Gold Mine in Laos, where it is targeting production of 60,000oz during 2006.
Shares in Pan Australian were up 0.5c (2.04%) to 25c in midday trade.
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Ausenco Limited, provides multi-disciplined engineering, procurement, project and construction management services to the mining, minerals and metal processing industry. The company participates in all phases of a project’s progression, from project scoping studies, process option/technical review assessments, feasibility studies utilised for project financing, through to project design, construction and commissioning. Ausenco’s group of companies also services companies through their operation and maintenance division, supplying key asset management and operational support. These services are applied to projects in a broad range of processing areas, both nationally and internationally.
