Global crisis delays Maun copper project

Speaking at the Australia Day mining conference in London on Monday, Managing Director Brad Sampson said the timeline for the approximately $200 million project is to be extended because of the economic downturn.

"The firm is revising a feasibility study after metals markets and share markets tumbled," Sampson said. "We think there may be some value in slowing down a little bit."The Botswana, Australia and London-listed firm had been hoping to commission its Maun-based Boseto project, which has a resource of 50 million tonnes of ore at 1.3 percent copper, in late 2010."But with costs sliding, it might be worth extending the timeline of the project," Reuters quoted Sampson as saying.A preliminary feasibility study earlier this year pegged capital costs at $185 million and unit cash costs at $1.43 per pound for an operation producing 23,500 tonnes of copper per year.