First Quantum OKs Zambia Expansion Projects Worth $840M

Mining Weekly reported that First Quantum (TSX:FM) has already approved expansion projects in Zambia. The base metal company has given the green light for its S3 treatment plant at the Kansanshi mine, capacity increase at Sentinel, along with its Enterprise project, all estimated to cost $840M.

As quoted in the market news:

“The new S3 plant, which would cost $565-million, would treat up to 25-million tons of ore a year and would allow for up to 400 000 t of copper to be produced each year.

First Quantum said the recently announced revised mineral resources and reserves estimates supported the proposed doubling of Kansanshi’s processing capacity to 50-million tons a year. The company initially contemplated treatment capacity of between 14-million and 16-million ton a year for S3.

The increase in sulphide treatment, along with an increased mineral resources and reserves estimate, boosted First Quantum’s Kansanshi mine’s life from 11 years to 16 years.”

Click here to read the full Mining Weekly report.