Information Circular 8656: Comparative Porphyry Copper Mining and Processing Costs - Alaska and Arizona

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bottge, Robert G.
• Description:
  To better understand those factors which increase mining costs in Alaska, a Bureau of Mines study was conducted to compare the estimated costs of operating a 100,000-tpd open pit copper mine located on a hypothetical ore body in the Lake Clark area, Alaska, with the costs of mining a similarly sized hypothetical copper ore body near Tucson, Arizona. Conventional mining and concentrating methods were assumed, and capital and operating costs were derived using flowsheets and standard costing methods. The total price required for copper mined in Alaska and Arizona was $1.12 and $0.63 Per pound, respectively, plus or minus 20 percent. These values were obtained assuming no leaching of low-grade copper, recovery of gold, silver, and molybdenum as byproducts, 100-percent equity financing, and a 12 percent discounted cash flow rate of return. The average domestic and international prices for copper in July 1973 were $0.60 and $0.916 Per pound, respectively. The existance of a developed transportation and power system in Alaska would have reduced capital and operating costs substantially. The required price for copper would have declined from $1.12 To $1.05 Per pound, plus or minus 20 percent. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Copper Metals Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Subseries:
  Information Circular
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; Arizona ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  AFOC - Alaska Field Operations Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  63 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10009721
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB-240107
• Citation:
  NTIS: PB 240-107 :55 pages
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1974
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  NTIS: PB 240-107
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5d65234886d4a4d94ac330f1744758b518774a726fdbe564d1eaf00cdaae48282652e2a4a5acbf0c355c963f2f709ea534ff20f0a6321aa76ebb1384daef417e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/206263/cdc_206263_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.52 MB ]