The Toronto-based Inmet Mining Corporation announced this week that Singapore’s Temasek Holdings will provide $500 million to finance its copper extraction projects in Panama.
Temasek’s Ellington Investments unit will buy some 9.2 million subscription receipts for about $54 each. Proceeds will be held in escrow by CIBC Mellon Trust Company pending exchange of the receipts for Inmet common shares.
Expected production from the mine has increased 25 percent, output and size and more than tripled in terms of measured and indicated resources, since Inmet’s engineering study was first made public in 2008. The plan defines operations until 2045.
“We expect the project will deliver a levered rate of return of 15.1 percent at a copper price of US $2.10 per pound, which establishes Cobre Panama (formerly known as Petaquilla Copper) as a solid project economically,” said Jochen Tilk, Inmet President and Chief Executive Officer. “Going forward, our focus will remain on progressing work toward a final construction decision with the highest regard for the environment and people affected by this project.”
Cobre Panama is one of the largest known copper porphyry deposits in the world. The open-pit development is located in the district of Donoso, Colon over four zones totaling 33,606 acres.
The word copper is derived from the Latin cuprum which means “from the island of Cyprus” where the Roman Empire obtained most of its copper. Copper is used for electrical wire, coins, cookware, water pipes and jewelry or to create the alloys of bronze and brass.
Copper
[...] In April of this year, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings bought $500 million worth of shares from Canada’s Inmet Mining Corporation, owner of the Minera Panama copper mine project in Panama’s Colon province. [...]