Sepon

Sepon is an open pit, copper and gold mining operation in southern Laos.

 

Lane Xang Minerals Limited (LXML) is the registered name of the company which operates Sepon.  Minmetals Resources Limited owns 90% of LXML, while the Lao Government owns the other 10%.

Copper

The Sepon copper operation commenced production in 2005 and by late 2010 a copper expansion project had lifted annual production capacity from approximately 65,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes per annum of copper cathode.

The combination of the high quality of Sepon’s copper product, the project’s proximity to customers and the reliability of supply typically attracts a premium over the London Metals Exchange (LME) copper price.  

Gold

The Sepon gold project yielded its first gold and silver doré in December 2002. In early 2005, an expansion of the original gold processing facility was completed, doubling the capacity of the gold processing plant to 2.5 million tonnes of ore per annum.

Since the commencement of operations, the Sepon gold operation has produced over one million ounces of gold through open pit mining and conventional treatment of oxide gold ore.

Based on current gold ore reserves, the mine life is not expected to extend much beyond 2012. But studies are ongoing to assess the opportunity to process the larger primary gold

  • Facts
    Location

    Located in Savannakhet province, southern Laos, approximately 40 kilometres north of the town of Sepon.

    Product

    Copper cathodes, gold doré

    Current mine life
    Copper: approximately 2020
    Gold: Approximately 2012 pending further oxide gold exploration
    Employmentfull-time equivalent as at 30 April 2011

    1661 employees and 2134 contractors

    Mining method

    Open pit mining

    Processing method
    Copper: Whole-of-ore leach, solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW)
    Gold: Conventional carbon-in-leach
    Resourcesas at 30 June 2010
    1.6 million tonnes copper
    3.1 million ounces gold
    14.4 million ounces silver
    Reservesas at 30 June 2010
    0.8 million tonnes copper
    0.2 million ounces gold
    0.7 million ounces silver
    Product sales

    Copper cathodes are transported via road and sea to manufacturers of cable, wire and tube in South East Asia.

    Gold doré bars are transported by air freight to a refinery in Australia where they are refined into gold bullion. These bars are then sold to jewellers, manufacturers and banks.

  • Map

  • Contact details

    Sepon mine 

     

    The Sepon mine is located in Vilabouly district, Savannakhet province.

    It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year.

    Sepon is a closed site and does not provide tours.

    Vientiane office

    Sepon’s administrative functions are managed out of the Vientiane office.

    PO Box 4486
    Ban Sisangvone
    Vientiane
    Lao PDR

    T (021) 261 283 / 264 171
    F (021) 414 293

    The Vientiane office operates from 8.00am to 5.00pm Mondays to Fridays.

    Contacts 

     

    Robin Hamilton Coates
    External Relations Manager

    Andrew Patterson
    General Manager Support

    Rick Watsford
    General Manager Sepon

    Contact us form

     

  • Production figures

     

     Production guidance 2011  
     copper cathode (tonnes)  70,000-75,000
     gold (ounces)  75,000-80,000

     

     Production statistics 2010  
     copper cathode (tonnes)  64,241 
     gold (ounces)  104,547

      

    Information about Sepon’s quarterly production is available on the Quarterly Reports page.

     

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