Atacama Minerals to double Aguas Blancas production

摘要

CANADIAN company Atacama Minerals Corp. is to double iodine production from the Aguas Blancas mining operation in northern Chile having completed the purchase of Atacama Minerals Chile (AAM Chile) from ACF Minera. Atacama Minerals paid 11.2m. dollars for the 50 percent stake in AAM Chile, whose main asset is the Aguas Blancas mining operation. A payment of 4.5m. dollars will be made within 12 months following the close of the transaction. Operations at Aguas Blancas will be debottlenecked and optimised throughout 2005 to increase production by 20 percent from its current 720 tpa of iodine. A demonstration-scale agitated leach plant will be installed with a view to ramping up to commercial scale and switching production to this process. This will double production capacity to 1,400-1,500 tpa, Paul Conibear, Atacama Minerals' Director told IM. "We will spend 10m. dollars on this; it will take 16-18 months to complete and so by the end of 2006 it will be in production," he said. Aguas Blancas produced 720 tonnes of iodine in 2004.