A Canadian based, high growth mining company, Copper Mountain Mining Corporation’s focus is directed towards adding value through a combination of successful exploration, project development, efficient operations, and opportunistic acquisitions. Furthermore, the maintaining of a low risk profile through project diversification, astute financial management and operating in secure jurisdictions are key priorities for Copper Mountain's Management team.
The company’s flagship asset is the 75 percent owned Copper Mountain mine, in which Mitsubishi Materials Corporation owns the remaining 25 percent as part of a strategic alliance between the two parties. Located close to the town of Princeton in southern British Columbia, the mine exists within an area blessed with well-developed infrastructure. This has made the property easily accessible via a combination of highways and paved roads. The mine also falls within close proximity to the port of Vancouver, which provides service for the shipment of copper concentrates, and is also little more than a 20 minute drive away from several local communities that provide goods, services and personnel.
The Copper Mountain mine commenced production during the summer of 2011 and has since gone on to expand its operations in rapid fashion. The site encompasses some 18,000 acres and boasts a resource of approximately five billion pounds of copper and remains open laterally and at depth. Needless to say then, that the Copper Mountain mine possesses significant exploration potential that the company plans to explore over the coming years.
The development concept behind the mine is a fairly straightforward one. The company is essentially combining three existing open pits into what will ultimately become one larger super pit. Across the mine site the company is utilising a brand new mobile mining fleet that consists of two Komatsu PC 8000 hydraulic shovels, thirteen 240 ton Komatsu 830E haul trucks, one Komatsu WA 1200 loader, two PV271 Atlas Copco rotary drills, one PV351 Atlas Copco rotary drill, and a fleet of support equipment. In addition, the mine has possesses an Ex 5500 Hitachi hydraulic shovel, five 260 ton haul trucks, and a PV 351 drill.
The mine utilises a conventional crushing, grinding, and flotation system in order to produce copper concentrates with gold and silver credits. The mine processing plan focuses on processing the higher grade ore in the first twelve years, with lower grade material being sent to stockpiles for blending and processing later in the mine's life. The facility is designed to operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year with a 92 percent mechanical availability including pre–scheduled downtime for equipment maintenance. Concentrates are exported via the port of Vancouver to Mitsubishi smelters in Japan for treatment and sale.
In addition to the resources it has already mined and continues to bring to the surface, the company is well aware of the significant exploration upside that still exists on the Copper Mountain project. The area surrounding the mine has played host to successful exploration programmes for the best part of 100 years now and the company is steadfast in its belief that this tradition will remain in place for many years to come.
The aim of any future exploration programmes will be to define additional resources from numerous untested targets previously identified by a deep penetration Titan 24 survey that was conducted in late 2007. Interpretation of the geophysical properties is consistent with the geological model of hydrothermal alteration and mineralized zones within an alkali porphyry setting.
From day one the Board of Directors and management of Copper Mountain have collectively held the belief that maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance is a critical factor when it comes to the effective operation of the mine and the business as a whole. Together they state that the company should always be managed in an ethical way and, in making this a reality, have in place a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics which all its employees, executives and shareholders uphold.
Perhaps the two most important areas covered by the code are health and safety, and environment and sustainability. As is the case with all professional mining operations, Copper Mountain strives to achieve the highest standards of mine safety and healthy across all of its business activities, a commitment the binds together the company’s Health and Safety Policy.
The safety and health of all employees and contractors is of the utmost priority to Copper Mountain's management. As such training programs, safe work procedures, site housekeeping and operational standards are enforced at Copper Mountain, which together are designed to ensure that all work is undertaken in a safe manner with minimal risk to employees and equipment.
Much in the same way that the company recognises the importance of providing a safe working environment, Copper Mountain recognises that mining in itself is temporary land use activity. Therefore the company ensures that it incorporates environmental management into all of its business activities. It realises that managing environmental responsibilities is an integral component in ensuring that the sustainability of its current and future operations is maintained.
Additionally, Copper Mountain is committed to returning the land to an overall improved condition after mining has ceased while preserving the heritage value of each site. As part of this commitment, consultation with community groups is carried out during the development stage of rehabilitation plans to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders are taken into account. This is reflected within the company’s Environmental Policy, which sets out what it hopes will become the legacy of the site long after it has ceased production.
Written by Will Daynes, research by Jeff Abbott
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