Aim-listed base-metals miner Weatherly International has reached full production at its Tschudi underground mine, in Namibia, on schedule and within budget, the firm said on Tuesday.

Production is targeted at 300 000 t of ore on an annualised basis for 2008, which would contribute at least an additional 2 500 t of copper to the group.

The Tschudi mine is located 24 km west of the Tsumeb West underground mine and forms part of the Tsumeb operation.

Around $3-million was invested in bringing the group’s first entirely new mine on line. Modern long hole stoping mining methods will be used, with the ore being processed at the Tsumeb concentrator and then smelted at the nearby Tsumeb smelter.

The underground mine is exploiting just a small part of the large Tschudi orebody, with current defined underground reserves of one million tons at 1,5% copper and 15 g/t silver.

The whole Tschudi resource base is 43-million tons, grading at 0,8% copper and 10 g/t silver.

Weatherly is examining the possibility of exploiting the deposit through a large open pit, with a drilling campaign currently underway and anticipate completing a bankable feasibility study during the third quarter of 2008.

“This is an important milestone for Weatherly. The commencement of production on schedule and within budget demonstrates Weatherly’s ability to successfully deliver new projects,” said Weatherly CEO Rod Webster.

“We are also excited about the potential to develop Tschudi into a much larger mine with the addition of an open pit. We anticipate completing the openpit feasibility study during the third quarter of 2008,” Webster said.

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