Global copper major eyes Queensland junior

One of the world’s largest copper producers has approached Cannindah Resources (CAE) to conduct due diligence on its Mt Cannindah project in Queensland.

Codelco is hoping to conduct low impact exploration and review Mt Cannindah drill core in the coming weeks “in contemplation of entering into a potential transaction”.

“The CAE board is considering its position in this regard and has executed a ‘consent deed’ detailing the conditions upon which the producer (Codelco) will be allowed to access the project and data,” Cannindah said.

Cannindah said data obtained from Codelco’s planned exploration activity would be provided to the junior at no cost.

Codelco’s investigations of Mt Cannindah are the culmination of more than a year of discussions between the two companies.

Cannindah managing director Tom Pickett said attracting Codelco’s interest was an “excellent endorsement” of the Mt Cannindah asset.

“We look forward to receiving the benefits of their work as we complete our work to continue to build scale at Mt Cannindah over the next 12 months,” he said.

“Our planned exploration program will be focused on additional tonnes to expand upon the resource we recently released, along with exploration of new and existing targets to add further scale.”

Cannindah said it had also recently received confirmation of the Queensland Government extending its exploration permit EPM 14524 at Mt Cannindah until April 2029.

Located 100km from Gladstone Port, Mt Cannindah has a 14.5-million-tonne mineral resource estimate (MRE) at 1.09 per cent copper equivalent.

The company announced the MRE in July.

“This significant 117 per cent increase in copper metal from the previous MRE underscores the potential for future growth of our copper and gold project at Mt Cannindah and is an excellent milestone for CAE,” Pickett said.

“This is now the springboard we will use to build from whilst we drill more targets for more tonnage in future exploration.”