OZ Minerals is poised to make a final investment decision on its West Musgrave copper-nickel project in Western Australia after achieving all necessary regulatory approvals.
The Western Australian Government granted the third and final regulatory approval required to allow construction of West Musgrave, and OZ Minerals said discussions were well advanced with the Ngaanyatjarra Council on finalising the mining agreement.
OZ is also finalising various study components and assessing the impact of inflation and the operational environment on the project cost and schedule.
This will pave the way for a final investment decision to be made on West Musgrave during the second half of the year.
Studies have suggested West Musgrave will be represented by two orebodies, Nebo and Babel, with copper and nickel mining to take place from two shallow open pits.
A December 2020 pre-feasibility study (PFS) indicated an average annual production of approximately 32,000 tonnes of copper and 26,000 tonnes of nickel across a 26-year mine life.
“West Musgrave is an exciting project, intended to be a modern mine, producing minerals in demand for a decarbonising world, providing value for all our stakeholders, particularly the Ngaanyatjarra community,” OZ Minerals managing director and chief executive officer Andrew Cole said.
It comes after BHP made a takeover bid for OZ Minerals last week, which valued OZ at $25 per share.
OZ swiftly rejected the offer, with Cole suggesting it didn’t appropriately recognise the company’s attributes.
“We have a unique set of copper and nickel assets, all with strong long-term growth potential in quality locations,” he said.
“We are mining minerals that are in strong demand particularly for the global electrification and decarbonisation thematic and we have a long-life resource and reserve base. We do not consider the proposal from BHP sufficiently recognises these attributes.”
The Australian Financial Review reported that BHP and OZ were in discussions about a potential offtake agreement regarding West Musgrave before BHP changed course and pitched the takeover.
Whether BHP makes another offer or another mining company swoops in, many believe OZ Minerals to still be very much in play despite the offer rejection.