True North Copper (ASX:TNC) has posted a maiden open pit ore reserve at its Wallace North Project, which is scheduled to be the first open pit mined as part of a Cloncurry Copper Project restart.
The maiden ore reserve has 700,000 tonnes grading 1.01% copper and 0.46 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 6,800 tonnes of copper and 10,000 ounces of gold for the Wallace North deposit.
The $52.79 million market capitalisation company says sulphide ore is expected to be hauled to a nearby concentrator for toll treatment as part of a toll-milling agreement with Glencore (LON:GLEN).
Oxide ore from Wallace North is expected to be hauled by road train to True North’s Heap Leach Operations at the Great Australia Mine (GAM) which, alongside Wallace North, Taipan, and Orphan Shear, is one of four deposits set for open-pit mining as part of the Cloncurry restart.
True North reports that mineralisation at Wallace North remains open along strike and at depth, with the ore reserve being 44% of the recently updated mineral resource.
Cloncurry now contains combined Wallace North and GAM ore reserves totalling 4.7 million tonnes grading 0.8% copper and 0.13g/t gold containing 37,500 tonnes of copper and 20,000 ounces of gold.
True North Managing Director Marty Costello says the advancement of operations is anticipated to uncover additional ore reserves, therefore enhancing the project’s overall value and extending mine life.
“We plan to schedule the Wallace North open pit as the first to be mined. Our resource infill drilling and reconciliation confirms high-grade copper and gold.
Our confidence in the Wallace North open pit extends beyond its initial ore reserve. The iterative nature of our mine design process allows us to continuously refine our understanding of the ore body.
We believe scheduling the Wallace North open-pit first allows for early life free cash flows and minimises working capital and payback periods. We are excited to shortly present to our shareholders and the market our Cloncurry Copper Project mining restart start plan.”
“Our confidence in the Wallace North open pit extends beyond its initial ore reserve”
True North Copper is a precious metals-focused explorer headquartered in Cairns. The company has assets across Queensland that are prospective for precious and critical minerals.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: True North Copper
