West Wall Copper Project

RNS Number : 5840U

Anglo American PLC

19 October 2010

 



19 October 2010
Anglo American announces 750Mt West Wall Mineral Resource in Chile

Anglo American announces a Mineral Resource estimate for the West Wall copper project in central Chile's Valparaíso Region. Anglo American and Xstrata Copper each have a 50% interest in the mining company which holds the project, West Wall SCM.

The estimated Inferred Resource for the project's Lagunillas deposit, based on 57 drill holes (33,600 metres), amounts to 750 million tonnes at a grade of 0.54% copper and 0.01% molybdenum, containing 4.0 million tonnes of copper using a 0.3% copper cut-off grade. The Mineral Resource also contains estimated average grades for gold of 0.05 grams per tonne. 

The West Wall project is located 100 kilometres northeast of Santiago and 70 kilometres north of the Rio Blanco - Los Bronces mineral district. Porphyry copper style hydrothermal alteration covers a large area of approximately seven kilometers by three kilometers. Exploration activities have focused in the south of the prospect at Lagunillas, where drilling has outlined copper sulphide resources associated with porphyry intrusive bodies.

Anglo American Head of Exploration for the Andes Region and West Wall board member, Vicente Irarrazaval, said:  "This is an exciting new exploration accomplishment. In recent years Anglo American has been very successful in discovering copper deposits near our operations in Chile and we are pleased to include a new greenfield discovery that shows promising potential to add to our project development pipeline."

This is the first Mineral Resource estimate published by Anglo American for West Wall.

Lagunillas Measured, Indicated & Inferred Mineral Resources* as of 30 September 2010

	Mineral Resources
	Measured	Indicated	Inferred	Total
Tonnes (Mt)	-	-	750	750
Copper (%)	-	-	0.54	0.54
Gold (g/t)	-	-	0.05	0.05
Molybdenum (%)	-	-	0.01	0.01
Copper contained (kt)	-	-	4,000	4,000
Gold contained (kOzs)	-	-	1,200	1,200

*The Mineral Resource is reported at a 0.30% copper cut-off grade constrained to a depth of 600 metres below surface. The Mineral Resource estimate, which is reported in accordance with the Australasian Code for the Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, 2004 Edition (JORC code), is reported without dilution or ore loss.

*Numbers in the above table are rounded, generally to two significant figures with tonnes and grades for Inferred Resources and grades in the total column rounded to one significant figure and the contained metal numbers rounded to nearest 100k.

*Due to the uncertainty that may be attached to Inferred Mineral Resources, it cannot be assumed that all or part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will necessarily be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Resource after continued exploration.

*The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Mr. Graeme Lyall, who is Member of the AusIMM and full-time employee of Anglo American. Mr. Graeme Lyall has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr. Graeme Lyall consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

For further information, please contact:

United Kingdom

James Wyatt-Tilby, Media Relations

Tel: [phone]

Caroline Metcalfe, Investor Relations

Tel: [phone]

Leisha Wemyss, Investor Relations

Tel: [phone]                        

South Africa

Pranill Ramchander, Media Relations

Tel: [phone]

Anna Mulholland, Investor Relations

Tel: [phone]

Kgapu Mphahlele, Investor Relations

Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors:

Anglo American plc is one of the world's largest mining companies, is headquartered in the UK and listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. Its portfolio of mining businesses spans precious metals and minerals - in which it is a global leader in both platinum and diamonds; base metals - copper and nickel; and bulk commodities - iron ore, metallurgical coal and thermal coal. Anglo American is committed to the highest standards of safety and responsibility across all its businesses and geographies and to making a sustainable difference in the development of the communities around its operations. The company's mining operations and extensive pipeline of growth projects are located in southern Africa, South America, Australia, North America and Asia. www.angloamerican.com

 

END

 

 

MSCKKFDQPBDDAKD