By Seo Jee-yeon

The state-run Korean Resources Corp. has commenced copper production at its mining process plant in Mexico, company officials said Wednesday.

“Minera y Metallurgica del Boleo, or MMB, in which KORES holds 90 percent stake, obtained the first production from its copper mining process plant in Santa Rosalia, Mexico, on Jan. 17,’’ the company said in its statement. “We expect MMB to produce 24,000 tons of copper this year.”

The mining facility completed in end-2014 plans to produce 8,000 tons of zinc sulphate and 600 tons of metallic cobalt by the end of this year.

With the start of cooper production, the “Boleo” project is on record the first Korean facility in the upstream mining business overseas, a KORES official said. The upstream in resource development refers to high-risk and high-return exploration and production businesses.

Last year, some politicians took issue with the project, which started in 2012, contending that the state-run corporation wasted public funds amounting to $2 billion by investing in the money-losing plant.

“It is too early to evaluate the success of this project because production has just started,” the official said, adding that the minimum lifetime of the mine is estimated at 22 years.

“The mining project is also contributing to development of the local community, offering more than 1,000 jobs for natives of Santa Roslia so far,” KORES said.

(jyseo@heraldcorp.com)