Altona Mining has been granted the final required mining leases for its Roseby copper project near Mt Isa in Queensland.
Managing director Alistair Cowden said the five leases contained all except one of the known resources at Roseby, including the Little Eva deposit, which has a potential production profile of 39,000 tonnes of copper and 17,000 ounces of gold per year.
“These mining lease approvals have taken place within the expected timeframe and represent a major milestone for Altona,” Dr Cowden said.
“The strategic value of the Roseby project has been enhanced by completion of permitting.”
In July, Altona announced that formal discussions with mining giant Xstrata had kicked off to reach agreement on a sale price for a 51 per cent stake in Roseby.
The wider Roseby area contains 1.26 million tonnes of copper and 384,000 ounces of gold, Altona said.
A definitive feasibility study for the project was completed in May, and now that mining leases have been granted, Roseby is ready for development once a plan of operations is approved.
At close of trade today, Altona shares were down 1.8 per cent, to finish at 26.5 cents.
