Hudbay has received a vital local thumbs-up for a new South American mine project.
Days ahead of the company’s fourth-quarter results release, Hudbay officials announced the company had secured access to the Pampacancha deposit in Peru, located near Hudbay’s existing Constancia mine operation.
The community of Chilloroya, located near the Pampacancha site, formally approved a surface rights agreement with the company. Following the agreement, Hudbay announced in a news release that the company expects to be mining ore at the site by the end of this year.
Capital spending on the project is currently estimated to be around $70 million this year alone.
““We are very pleased to have reached a Pampacancha agreement with the community,” said Hudbay president and CEO Peter Kukielski in a press release.
“I have been impressed with the team’s work and appreciate the years of effort to achieve this goal. Pampacancha adds high-grade copper and gold ore into the Constancia mine plan, lowering future cash costs for the mine and increasing operating cash flows at Constancia.”
“On behalf of Hudbay Peru, I would like to thank the community of Chilloroya for their dedication to completing this agreement which further enhances our valued long-term relationship with the community,” said Javier Del Rio, Hudbay South America Business Unit vice-president.
The deal is not done yet. The Peruvian government, under national law, must conduct further consultation with the community before Hudbay can begin to develop the project. That process is expected to be finished by June, according to the company’s Feb. 18 news release.
