Name and Location
Frieda River copper/gold project, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Client
The Frieda River is held by the Frieda River Joint Venture (JV), an unincorporated JV between Frieda River Limited, a PanAust subsidiary company, and Highlands Frieda, a subsidiary company of Highlands. Frieda River manages the project and holds an 80% interest; Highlands holds the remaining 20% interest.

Project Description
Frieda River is one of the largest undeveloped copper/gold deposits in the world.

The Horse-Ivaal-Trukai, Ekwai and Koki (HITEK) global mineral resource is estimated at more than 2.7-billion tonnes at an average grade of 0.42% copper and 0.23 g/t gold and contains 12-million tonnes of copper and 19-million ounces of gold.

The feasibility study envisages an initial project based on the HITEK copper/gold porphyry deposits, which comprises a large-scale, openpit mining operation that feeds ore to a conventional process plant nominally rated at 40-million tonnes a year.

Average yearly production of metal in concentrate is 175 000 t copper and 250 000 oz gold.

The initial mine life is estimated at 17 years, with 700-million tonnes of mill feed that includes 608-million tonnes of ore reserve from Horse-Ivaal-Trukai.

The mill feed represents about a quarter of the global mineral resource.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a post-tax net present value, at an 7.8% discount rate, of $820-million and internal rate of return of 11%, with a payback of six years.

Value
Preproduction capital costs are estimated at R3.6-billion.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The future development of the project is subject to a final investment decision (FID) by the project proponents, the grant of a special mining lease and all the necessary permits, approvals and agreements required from the PNG government, landowners and other stakeholders.

The FID will also require a supportive commodity price outlook, and finance, as well as legal and regulatory certainty.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
PanAust, tel +61 7 3117 2000, fax +61 7 3846 4899 or email info@panaust.com.au.