There’s no doubting the strong copper demand profile in the years to come, with the base metal set to play an increasingly important role in the renewable energy transition.
In fact, a recent report from the International Energy Forum found that just meeting business-as-usual demand will require a 115 per cent boost in copper production in the next 30 years compared to what has currently been mined up to now.
To electrify the global vehicle fleet requires bringing 55 per cent more new mines into production than would otherwise be needed.
While Australia has a host of active copper mines, what does the next generation of copper mining look like?
Australian Resources & Investment spotlights several emerging companies looking to enter the copper fray.
Cyprium Metals
Cyprium Metals is looking to restart its Nifty copper operation in Western Australia, which historically produced copper from both oxide and sulphide resources.
The company just released a scoping study indicating Nifty’s potential to contain 70 million tonnes of sulphide ore at 0.9 per cent copper. Once processed through a concentrator, this would lead to 570,000 tonnes of copper production across the life of mine.
Cyprium would look to refurbish the current plant to support the new operation, which is expected to cost $175 million. This would nearly double the potential throughput of the plant.
“This is a meaningful step for Cyprium that consolidates months of work,” Cyprium executive chair Matt Fifield said of the scoping study.
“The opportunity is clear. This study outlines the high-level plan for accessing the large sulphide resource at Nifty. A relatively large truck–shovel surface mine enables us to best recover the significant resources.”
Cyprium plans to complete a reserve report next, which is set to be followed by a pre-feasibility study on the Nifty surface mining opportunity.
The surface mining opportunity at Nifty is separate from a copper cathode venture at the mine.
True North Copper
True North Copper is expected to commence mining ore at its Cloncurry copper project in Queensland this year.
Mining is targeted at the Wallace North reserve for the fourth quarter of the 2023–24 financial year (FY24).
The company will look to mobilise 60–80 tonnes of excavator fleet to Cloncurry, which will ramp up to an initial mining rate of 300,000 tonnes of ore per month.
The first quarter of FY25 is set to see first sulphide ore reach the toll treatment run-of-mine pad. Production would then move to the Great Australia Mine and Taipan pits, with heavy fleet to mobilised to these deposits in the first half of FY25.
Ian McAleese recently assumed the role of executive chair at True North after Marty Costello stepped down as managing director. Costello will remain on the board as executive director – business development.
Transition Resources
Private explorer Transition Resources is looking to bring its Duck Creek copper mine in north-west Queensland online in the coming years.
Transition is prioritising profitable resources over big resources at its assets, with a two-phase development set to take place to achieve early revenue.
The high-grade nature of Transition’s resources means they can be monetised quickly through open-pit mining methods, toll-treating at third-party processing plants, and minimal up-front capital expense.
Transition expects to generate $190 million of pre-tax free cashflow from its first phase of mining.
Duck Creek will focus on copper sulphide ore to be treated at a third-party mill. Transition’s Highway project is also set to come online in the coming years. This has the potential to produce gold, tungsten, magnet rare earths (NdPr) and cobalt through a new, skid-mounted gravity plant.
“It’s a different approach to what investors typically see in this space, especially for a small-cap private explorer,” Transition managing director David Wilson said.
“But everything about Transition is different; from its research programs and first greenfield discoveries in the Cloncurry district in decades, to its focus on future earnings per share – operational bookends rarely embraced by small explorers.”
Hammer Metals
Hammer Metals boasts more than 500,000 tonnes of copper resources in its portfolio, with the company holding a suite of emerging prospects in north-west Queensland.
This includes the Kalman, South Hope, Mascotte and Hardway deposits, each of which Hammer has enjoyed plenty of exploration success in recent times.
In February 2023, Hammer intersected 89m at 1.74 per cent copper equivalent (CuEq) from 143m at Kalman, including 24m at 5.1 per cent CuEq.
The company intersected 34m at 2.5 per cent copper from 111m at South Hope, while Mascotte has generated intersections as high as 53m at 1.55 per cent copper.
Hardway has delivered 57m at one per cent copper from surface, including 10m at 2.87 per cent copper.
In 2023, Hammer delivered a 40 per cent increase in mineral inventory at Kalman and three new prospects with intersections of at least 50m at one per cent copper.
Hammer believes it is building itself a strong resource profile that could see it begin copper production from various fronts in the coming years.
Carnaby Resources
Carnaby Resources recently hosted a delegation from the Queensland Government at its Greater Duchess copper-gold project in north-west Queensland.
The Queensland Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals Scott Stewart was in attendance, as well as Department of Resources Director General Warwick Agnew and Critical Minerals Queensland executive director Paul Holden.
Carnaby is currently progressing the Greater Duchess project to production, with a scoping study set to be released in May.
The Mount Hope, Nil Desperandum, and Lady Fanny major discoveries are standout prospects within the project, where broad high-grade copper mineralisation has been intersected at all three locations.
The tenement package also includes the historical Duchess copper-gold mine which produced approximately 205,000 tonnes at 12.5 per cent copper from 1900–1940.
“Carnaby remains on track to deliver the Greater Duchess scoping study in May 2024 against a backdrop of robust copper and gold prices and continue to advance the project towards development,” Carnaby managing director Rob Watkins said.
Revolver Resources
Revolver Resources is making strong progress at its Dianne copper mine in far north Queensland with ongoing support from the Queensland Government.
Revolver is progressing detailed mine planning and scheduling activities, helped along by a maiden $1.3 million grant from the Queensland Critical Minerals and Battery Technology Fund.
The mine is on track for targeted first copper cathode production during the second half of 2025.
“Revolver is fortunate to be in a very unique position with a high-grade copper orebody at-surface at the Dianne mine,” Revolver managing director Pat Williams said.
“We have no existing debt and we have a truly incredible pathway to generating production revenues, to fund the company’s growth and accelerate the scale of our exploration activities across our highly prospective tenure at the broader Dianne and Osprey projects.”
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