Capstone repairs slim Mantoverde copper output

Capstone Copper (TSX: CS; ASX: CSC) has warned of a temporary output hit at its Mantoverde sulphide operation in Chile after both ball mill drive motors on the site failed within a week.Repair work is to take about four weeks, losing 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes in copper concentrate production, the company said on Monday. It didn’t state costs. An investigation into the root cause of the issue has also started.One of Mantoverde’s ball mill motors experienced a failure on Aug. 24 and was later replaced with a spare, the copper miner said in a release. However, that left no spares on site for the second motor, which broke down six days later.“While the associated downtime and impact is forecast to be relatively minimal, the Mantoverde sulphides are a meaningful production contributor with a low-cost profile as part of the company’s guidance,” BMO Capital Markets said in a note on Monday. “Seeing the repairs completed, and the operation return to full capacity, should be an important driver for the company.”Shares in Capstone Copper fell 0.6% to close at A$10.74 apiece in Sydney on Monday, valuing the company at A$7.35 billion. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of A$5.80 to A$12.14.Concentrator expansionMantoverde was expected to produce 68,000 to 80,000 tonnes of copper this year at C1 cash costs of $1.25 to 1.55 per lb. as part of the company’s overall forecast of 220,000 to 255,000 tonnes at a cost of $2.20 to 2.50 per pound. Last month, the company said it’s proceeding with a $176-million expansion of the site’s sulphide concentrator even though it was 20% more expensive than a previous estimate.The move is expected to add six year’s to the mine’s life to 25 years as it increases daily processing ore capacity to 45,000 tonnes from 32,000 tonnes, raising annual output by 20,000 tonnes of copper and 6,000 ounces of gold.Bypasssing millDuring the repairs, the plant will operate at half capacity by bypasssing the mill, an operating mode that the Mantoverde team has used before, the company said. There’s also a chance to soften the impact by pulling forward plant maintenance scheduled for later this month.Besides Mantoverde, the company also owns and operates the Mantos Blancos copper-silver mine in Chile’s Antofagasta region, as well as the Pinto Valley copper mine in Arizona and the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Zacatecas, Mexico.The Vancouver-based miner produced the first saleable copper concentrate at the site in June 2024 and kicked off commercial production three months later. In January this year, the plant exceeded nameplate capacity with an average throughput of 33,409 tonnes per day.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com