Augusta Resource Corporation is already well into what is probably the biggest project in the mining company’s history. Gil Clausen explains why a prosperous future is drawing closer by the day.
Written by Ben O’ Hanlon and Produced by Jason Wright
Augusta Resource Corporation has given itself a clear objective: to become a mid-tier copper producer within four years. At the heart of this objective is the Rosemont project in Arizona, a mine that the company has been working on since it acquired the area back in 2005. Augusta’s President and CEO Gil Clausen joined the company shortly before this acquisition, leaving his post as Executive Vice-President of Mining for Washington Group International.
Gil explains why Rosemont has been such a focus for him ever since: “This is a world class project. Once open it’ll be the third or fourth largest copper mine in the US. It’ll be a very large and very strategic asset for us, the cornerstone asset for our company.”
Rosemont is clearly a central part of Augusta’s future, but it continues to be a slow process. Construction of the mine is scheduled to start in 2009 and it won’t be producing copper until 2011. Even the large grinding mills have a delivery time of up to two and a half years. The rewards, however, are waiting to be reaped.
The mine is estimated to produce between 210 and 260 million pounds of copper, 4.5 to 5.5 million pounds of molybdenum and 2.5 to 3.5 million ounces of silver annually. The silver and copper concentrate that is extracted will be sold to smelters and the molybdenum concentrate to companies with roasting capacity. A third product will be copper sheet (99.99 percent pure), which can...
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