True North Copper (ASX:TNC) is ramping up operations at the Cloncurry Copper Project (CCP) after mining more than 220,000 bank cubic metres since works began at the Wallace North deposit in Queensland.
The company is on track to become Australia’s next copper producer and critical metals supplier in Q1 2025 following the start of sulphide processing in the new year.
In July 2024, True North began mining activities at Wallace North, which is one of four open-pit deposits making up the Cloncurry project.
Since then, 223,000 bank cubic metres of overburden has been mined, including 22,000 tonnes of oxide ore which has been placed on the deposit’s run-of-mine (RoM) to date.
True North, which has a market capitalisation of $28.83 million, says the oxide ore has been transported to the Great Australian Mine (GAM) since September, with 8,300 tonnes crushed and stacked on the leach pad to date.
Some 2,400 tonnes of ore remains available in the current crushing campaign, while 10,600 tonnes of ore remains available on the Wallace North run-of-mine and will be hauled to GAM for crushing and stacking in the coming weeks.
Managing Director Bevan Jones says the company is progressing towards its goal of becoming the next Australian copper producer and critical minerals supplier.
“Since our previous update in September, operations including our mining activities at Wallace North to the initial crushing and stacking activities at our Cloncurry Operations Hub have transitioned seamlessly,” Jones says.
“Our team at CCP should be commended for this progress, but the hard work is set to continue in the coming weeks as the crushing and stacking activities accelerate further.
“TNC’s upcoming milestones at CCP include increased pregnant leach solution grade and volume reporting through to the Solvent Extraction plant in conjunction with the commencement of 24.7 mining operations at Wallace North mine in Q4 2025.”
Concurrently, Jones adds that the company has been buoyed by the response of its recruitment campaign in Queensland to build the Cloncurry Project team.
“We will see 28 new employees joining the TNC team by mid-November, a great result for the company which will help ensure operations continue to advance on schedule at CCP,” he says.
“Our recruitment drive is continuing as we aim to establish a workforce of 100 people at CCP by December.”
The company notes sulphide ore from the project is being transported to a nearby concentration for toll treatment under the company’s toll milling agreement with global commodity trader Glencore (LSE:GLEN).
Transitional and sulphide ores are expected to be mined and stockpiled during this quarter. Toll milling is expected to begin in Q1 2025.
True North Copper has binding offtake and toll milling agreements with Glencore for 100% of copper concentrate from CCP and toll milling of up to 1Mt of ore per year.
The Wallace North deposit has a current ore reserve totalling 700,000 tonnes at 1.01% copper and 0.46 grams per tonne gold for 6,800 tonnes of copper and 10,000 ounces of gold.
Based on the mining restart study announced in February 2024, Cloncurry is estimated to generate free cash flow of $200 million at current copper spot prices over its initial 4.6-year mine life.
The Cloncurry Project is prospective for copper, cobalt, and gold and is centred around the GAM. It has a global resource containing 79,040 tonnes of copper, 47,720 ounces of gold and 1,860 tonnes of cobalt.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: True North Copper
