Yulong copper mine phase III expansion gets green light

On June 23, Tibet Yulong Copper Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Western Mining, received approval from the Development and Reform Commission of Tibet Autonomous Region for its Phase III expansion project at the Yulong copper mine. The project will boost production capacity from 19.89 million to 30 million tonnes per year.

The open-pit expansion includes a new 11-million-tonne-per-year concentrator, expansion of hydrometallurgical refining capacity from 300,000 tonnes to 1 million tonnes per year, and supporting infrastructure such as a new tailings storage facility. The upgraded mine, which mainly produces copper concentrate, molybdenum concentrate, and refined copper, will have a projected service life of 23 years, with an estimated total investment of RMB4.8 billion (USD669 million).

By the end of 2024, Yulong copper mine had 830 million tonnes of ore resources at 0.6% Cu on average, and produced 159,000 tonnes of mined copper that year. Once Phase III is completed, the annual mined copper output is expected to rise to 180,000-200,000 tonnes, further strengthening the company's production capacity.