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J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 7
any time getting its first operation up and
running, taking advantage of a run-up in
prices at the time. The company hired 50
employees in its first week, mined its first
coal at Brule by September 22, shipped
the first train in October, loaded its first
barge in November and then started up
Wolverine in December with the first ton-
nage shipping in January 2017.
"It's been a wildly aggressive build
up," said Bartkoski. "The market gave us a
neat opportunity in the short term and we
needed to jump in and take advantage of
it." Conuma has set a commitment to have
at least 85% of its workers come from the
local area and currently has about 92%
local workforce.
Karina Briño, former President of the BC
Mining Association, credits "extreme and
effective collaboration" between industry,
government and First Nations for helping
Conuma get its mining operations ready so
quickly.
Copper revenues fell slightly, but the
red metal was still important. The PwC
survey said that copper concentrate rev-
enue totaled $1.8 billion in 2016 compared
to $2.0 billion in 2015 and $2.2 billion in
2014. The decrease in revenue was primar-
ily due to lower sales at Teck's Highland
Valley copper mine, which has entered a
heavier stripping phase of its mine life.
Taseko's Gibralter mine also experi-
enced lower sales volumes as a result of
lower grade and mill throughput. These
reductions in sales were slightly offset by
increased revenues at other sites, includ-
ing Copper Mountain, New Afton, Mount
Polley and Red Chris. Total shipments of
concentrate fell to 926,000 tonnes com-
pared to 1,025,000 tonnes in 2015 and
1,034,000 tonnes in 2014. The price of cop-
per averaged US $2.21 per pound in 2016,
down from US $2.50 per pound in 2015.
According to the PwC Mining Report,
"return on shareholder investment was
13.5% compared to 6.3% in 2015 and
2.4% in 2014. This number has now
slightly surpassed the return on share-
holder investment in 2013 and the hope is
that it will continue to climb towards 2012
levels as we move into 2017."
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