Polymet sees US copper, nickel output by late 2009

By Carole Vaporean

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - Polymet Mining Corp (PLM.A) (POM.TO) is on schedule with plans to produce initial copper and nickel concentrates at its Minnesota mine and processing plant by late 2009, said Chief Financial Officer Douglas Newby in a recent presentation to investors.

The company plans to begin processing 32,000 tonnes of ore per day at its northeastern Minnesota NorthMet project, Newby told Reuters in a subsequent interview.

The ore should produce annual yields of about 32,000 tonnes of copper, 7,000 tonnes of nickel, and 100,000 ounces of combined platinum, palladium, and gold, or about one-third of the plant's historic capacity of 100,000 tonnes of ore a day.

Polymet bought the brownfield site from Cleveland Cliffs Inc (CLF.N), North America's largest producer of iron ore pellets and a 7 percent owner of the project.

Located six miles from the mine, the Erie Plant was built in the mid 1950's to process iron ore, and operated continuously until January 2001 when it was put on care and maintenance.

Its substantial infrastructure includes a crushing, milling, tailings, and disposal facility, he said.

That means most of the heavy production equipment is set, reducing capital costs by at least $200 million and speeding up construction and the permitting process.

By late 2009, Newby said Polymet intends to produce a commodity grade copper concentrate that can be handled by any third party processor and a nickel concentrate containing a lot of copper concentrate in it.