Joint Venture Panama (JVP), a joint venture led by SNC-Lavalin (70%), along with partners GyM S.A. (a member of Graña y Montero Group) (15%) and Techint International Construction Corp. (15%), is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract by Minera Panama SA (MPSA), a 100% owned subsidiary of Inmet Mining Corporation of Canada, to provide, initially, the basic engineering followed by engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the development of the Cobre Panama copper mine project in Panama. Preliminary engineering studies have estimated the capital cost of the project at over US$4.0 billion.
The Cobre Panama project involves an open pit mine; ore crushing, conveying and stockpiling facilities; concentrator and processing facilities; and ancillary systems and equipment including a tailings management facility (TMF), access roads, a utility corridor, power transmission and distribution lines, a filter plant, a concentrate storage facility, offshore dock marine facilities and a port. The process throughput initially will be a nominal 150,000 t/d increasing to a nominal 225,000 t/d from year 10. The mine life is expected to be 30 years.
The EPCM contract commences with basic engineering for all facilities except the power plant. Following basic engineering, and subject to permitting, close of finance and investment approval by the client, the contract comprises full detailed engineering, procurement and construction management for all facilities excluding the process plant which will be completed under a separate competitive procurement process leading to an EPC contract. The process plant EPC contract will be awarded as a separate package at the end of the basic engineering phase in the first quarter of 2012 and SNC-Lavalin and its JV partners will be one of the bidders.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for SNC-Lavalin to work with its JVP partners, and with Inmet, MPSA and local stakeholders, to build a world-class copper mine and all its infrastructure in Panama,” said Feroz Ashraf, Executive Vice-President, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. “This award builds on our 20-year relationship with Inmet and reflects their confidence in our ability to design and build another challenging and prestigious project for them. We look forward to executing this major project in Panama.”
Basic engineering will commence immediately in our Toronto office, with construction scheduled to commence late in 2011 or early in 2012. The project is scheduled to be operational in 2016.
SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure, and in the provision of operations and maintenance services. SNC-Lavalin has offices across Canada and in over 35 other countries around the world, and is currently working in some 100 countries. http://www.snclavalin.com/.
For further information:
| Media | Investors |
| Leslie Quinton Vice-President, Global Corporate Communications SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. 514-393-8000, ext. 7354 [email protected] |
Denis Jasmin Vice-President, Investor Relations SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. 514-393-8000, ext. 7553 [email protected] |
