The capital cost estimate for Canadian miner Northern Orion's Agua Rica copper-molybdenum-gold mine in Argentina has risen to $1.9bn due to increased infrastructure requirements, a company official told BNamericas.

The company has completed the technical aspects of a feasibility study at Agua Rica and plans to present it to Catamarca province authorities in September, said Mario Juárez, manager of mine technical services at the company's local subsidiary Minera Agua Rica.

The plan is to start construction in 2008 pending board approval, financing and permits, Juárez said in a brief interview after giving a presentation at the Argentina Mining 2006 congress in Mendoza.

Northern Orion would cover capital costs with its own resources, bank financing and possibly the entry of a JV partner, according to the official.

Juárez said Agua Rica would mine 290,000t/d of which 90,000t would be ore and 200,000t sterile material, during his presentation.

The potential mine has a life of 23-26 years, or 26-29 years including three years of pre-stripping, according to the presentation.

In the first six months, Agua Rica would run at 38% capacity for the first three months, ramping up to 78% in the next three months, and hitting 100% in the following six-month period.

Agua Rica has measured and indicated resources of 730Mt grading 0.497% copper, 0.033% molybdenum 33.636g/t silver and 0.231g/t gold.