About Us
Currently the Company owns a copper-gold project 410 km north of Santiago, comprising the Cinabrio mine and the Punitaqui processing plant, with other copper and gold resources under development. It also has gold exploration on gold tenements over 268 square kilometres in the historic and highly prospective Charters Towers goldfield region of northern Queensland.
Chile – Punitaqui Gold–Copper Project
The company’s main interest in Chile is the Punitaqui Copper-Gold Project, in which Tamaya Resources holds 100%. The Punitaqui gold-copper project is located near the city of Ovalle, 410km north of the capital, Santiago and comprises the Punitaqui processing plant, an underground copper mine at Cinabrio, as well as the Tensionales underground gold mine at Punitaqui.
The holdings in Chile offer a range of exploration and development options for the expansion and life extension of sulphide copper concentrate production, and the development of a copper-oxide business.
Tamaya is planning to develop additional copper and gold resources in its area of operation based on known resources, and has committed to a A$3 million exploration programme in Chile for FY2007.
At a time of high copper and gold prices, Tamaya has already:
- Increased copper production at its Punitaqui plant by the completion in December 2006 of the plant upgrade project, which was completed on budget and ahead of schedule. This project has increased plant throughput rates to 1,250 tonnes ore per day milled, and increased copper production from 4,000 tonnes per year to a potential 6,000 tonnes per year.
- In late February 2007 secured funding for Project 3000, the expansion of the Punitaqui processing facility and the Cinabrio Mine to 3,000 tonnes milled per day, which will push copper production in concentrate to 12,000 tonnes copper per year.
Australia - Charters Towers, Queensland
Tamaya Resources controls the highly prospective Rishton-Hadleigh goldfield with million ounce potential. The strategy is to commence exploration to test the Rishton Mine Corridor and Cornishman sectors for a 500,000 to 1,000,000 oz gold resource, to support 100,000 oz pa gold production. This has been proposed for immediate commencement.
There are two drivers of urgency in this project: buoyant conditions in the gold market, which provides a window of opportunity to invest in or divest of this asset for maximum benefit to Tamaya Resources; and, the impending exercising of the Rishton mill option, which has the potential to lower economic hurdles for new gold production.
