Copper and gold mining exploration company Indophil Resources NL
(ASX:IRN) has announced a resource upgrade at the Tampakan Copper Gold Project in the Southern Philippines.
The company has upgraded the mineral resource by 8 per cent from 2.2 billion tonnes to 2.4 billion tonnes, and increased the measured tonnes by 25 per cent up from 620 million tonnes to 780 million tonnes.
Contained copper up from 12.8 million tonnes to 13.5 million tonnes and contained gold up from 15.2 million ounces to 15.8 million ounces.
CEO Richard Laufmann says this new and higher Tampakan mineral resource comes at a time when the vast body of research points to an emerging global supply shortfall in copper over the medium term, underpinned by an overhang of ageing mines and a clear lack of new near-term, low-cost and large copper projects.
The company says the project is targeted for an initial 20 years of operation at an average annual production of 340,000 tonnes of copper and 350,000 ounces of gold, with first production slated for early 2016.
Looking back at the past five years Indophil Resources only net profit was in 2006.
