Rio2 (RIO.TO) received regulatory approval for the Modification of the Environmental Impact Study (MEIA) for the expansion of its Condestable underground copper mine in Peru, it said Tuesday.
The approved MEIA includes environmental authorization for a dry-stack tailings facility. Initial permitted capacity for the facility is about 43-million tonnes, with the design allowing for staged expansions up to 170-million tonnes to support future mine life extensions, it said.
The MEIA allows an expansion of throughput capacity to 10,000 tonnes per day (tpd) from the current capacity of 8,400 tpd. The approval also officially extends Condestable's environmentally approved mine life for a further decade, it said.
The company now plans to complete engineering studies for both the processing plant and the mine, which are currently underway with third-party consultants.
Shares of the company were last seen up C$0.20, or 5.7%, to C$3.61 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Price: $3.61, Change: $+0.20, Percent Change: +5.72%