Rex Mineralsboosts the amount of copper at its Yorke Peninsula project by half REX Minerals has increased its ore reserves at the Hillside copper and gold project on Yorke Peninsula by 50 per cent. The company said the first 12 years of production at the proposed mine were now covered by ore reserves, providing further support for project finance negotiations. "Rex started resource drilling at Hillside in 2010 and in just three years, has delivered one of the best long-life open pit copper discoveries in Australia since Ernest Henry," managing director Mark Parry said. A resource of this scale and a reserve of this quality so close to existing infrastructure provides significant financial flexibility as we look to finalise project funding in the months ahead. We are continuing discussions with copper concentrate, iron ore buyers and potential joint venture partners which can provide significant financial support to Hillside. With relatively low capital intensity, low operating costs, and the simplicity of open pit mining in a first world location, we are confident Hillside has all the right attributes for successful financing and development. Rex aims to finalise its feasibility study and funding in the second half of this year and start mine construction in the first half of next year. Rex shares were 1.5c higher at 34c.