Atalaya Mining completes Expansion Project ahead of schedule

Atalaya Mining on Monday said it has completed the construction of its Expansion Project in Andalucía, Spain, ramping copper production up to towards 9.5m tonnes per annual (mpta).

The Expansion Project was declared mechanically complete in the first week of May 2016, ahead of schedule and under budget.

Production rose to an annualised 6.8mpta in June, in line with the ramp-up schedule. “This trend has continued and the annualised rate achieved during July is equivalent to 7.7 Mtpa,” the company said in a statement.

Atalaya also reported copper production increased by 10% in the second quarter to 4,442 tonnes, compared with 4,048 tonnes in the first quarter, despite the temporary closure of the plant and interruptions required to commission the Expansion.

Copper grade in the final concentrate was 21.54% in the second quarter versus 21.33% for the first three months of the year.