MANILA, Jun 24, 2010 (Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex) -- Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. (AT.PH) said Friday that output will increase and production costs will decline at its Carmen copper mine in the central Philippines by July with the arrival of new open-pit mining equipment and the start of a long-term power supply deal.

Atlas Mining said it purchased six 100-ton trucks and an additional 15-cubic meter hydraulic excavator to complement existing mining equipment and to increase the daily rate of excavation of ores and wastes to 122,000 metric tons from 105,000 tons.

A long-term power supply agreement with Toledo Power Corp. will also start in July to replace the current higher-cost supply deal.

"As a consequence, the energy requirement of (the Carmen) mining operations will be satisfied on a 24-hour stable basis for the next 3-5 years at a significantly lower cost than present arrangements which have restricted daily production of copper concentrates, particularly during peak hours," Atlas Mining said.

Carmen Copper Corp., the unit operating the copper mine in the island province of Cebu, is also installing an 11.2-megawatt twin-set power generating plant.

Atlas Mining said it is scheduled to ship on Saturday 5,000 dry metric tons of copper concentrate, its 22nd shipment since the Carmen mines started shipments in December 2008. The 21 previous copper concentrate shipments to China totaled 103,462 tons, valued at $164 million.