Quadra FNX 2010 announced profit increase and plans to sink Sudbury shaft

Quadra FNX Mining reported its 2010 earnings of $173 million compared to 2009 earnings of $81 million, according to a Feb. 28, 2011 news release.

The increase is attributed to higher average copper prices and the contributions from the Chilean Franke property and the Sudbury operations following last year’s spring merger with Sudbury copper/nickel producer FNX. The company’s 2010 fourth quarter earnings were $58 million.

This Vancouver-based mid-tier copper producer owns mines in Canada, the United States and Chile with development projects in North and South America and Greenland.

In the release, Quadra FNX’s president and CEO Paul Blythe said the company’s strong financial results have been driven by a much improved copper price environment as well as the increase in copper production from the combined Quadra and FNX asset base.

“In January 2011, we closed the sale of our Gold Wheaton shares for initial cash proceeds of C$263 million which increased our cash balance to approximately $600 million," he said.

Blythe added that the 2010 discovery of Zone 4 at the Victoria property in Sudbury was an important one. Five diamond drills were on the site during the fourth quarter and the next step is to complete an inferred resource calculation, which will be used in an ongoing scoping study.

“We are also advancing permitting, First Nations consultation and discussions with Vale on processing terms and their potential back-in right. Our intention is to commence shaft construction this year, initially for underground exploration, but ultimately this infrastructure could also be for future production,” he said.