PanAust: PanAust sees costs of PNG copper/gold mine doubling to $3.6bn

The cost estimate of the Frieda River mine, in Papua New Guinea, has more than doubled to $3.6-billion, from an earlier estimate of $1.7-billion, China-owned PanAust reported on Thursday. The company published a feasibility study for the project, which contemplated a large-scale, openpit mining operation producing 175 000 t/y of copper and 250 000 oz/y of gold over 17 years.