THE expanded processing plant of the Carmen Copper Corp. is expected to be fully operational next month, its mother company announced.

The Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp., of which Carmen Copper is a wholly-owned subsidiary, said initial commissioning of its expansion project in Toledo City, Cebu, yielded positive results.

In a statement disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said half of its newly-installed process circuit was operated continuously for 60 hours last Jan. 31, which brought on high confidence in the equipment performance and proof of process of the expanded plant.

“While this is still part of the equipment and process commissioning exercise, the data gathered showed satisfactory copper recovery and grind size accuracy,” the statement read.

Commissioning work on the other half of the process circuit is scheduled to start soon and once this is completed, the test run of the whole process circuit will be initiated.

The expansion increases the plant’s milling capacity by 50 percent. From 40,000 metric tons a day, the plant will now be able to mill 60,000 metric tons daily. The company installed two ball mills, four 300-cubic meter rougher flotation tanks and an auxiliary line for primary crushing, which has a capacity of 30,000 metric tons daily.

The auxiliary line augments the existing primary line that has a capacity of 50,000 metric tons.

Production

In its third quarter unaudited financial and operational report, the company said Carmen Copper achieved a quarterly production of 24.82 million pounds of copper metal in concentrate, 14 percent higher than the same period the previous year. Its gold production also increased by 97 percent to 6,053 ounces.

The plant’s average milling capacity registered at 44,997 metric tons per day, which was eight percent higher quarter-on-quarter. Shipment volumes of gold and copper rose by 23 percent and 108 percent, respectively, as they were able to deliver 24.67 million pounds of copper metal concentrate and 5,708 ounces of gold as a result of improved grade.

For the first three quarters, Carmen Copper registered a total production of 68.86 million pounds of copper metal concentrate, three percent higher than the same period the previous year. Its gold production increased by 50 percent to 15,188 ounces. Due to process improvements, the plant reported an average daily milling capacity of 43,462 metric tons a day, up five percent.

A total of 68.19 million pounds of copper metal concentrate and 14,164 ounces of gold were shipped during the period.