The proposed partnership is similar to the way the Tennant Creek Mineral Field operated historically. Pic: Getty Images
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Special Report: CuFe, Emmerson Minerals and Tennant Minerals have formed a strategic alliance to collaborate on their copper, gold and critical metals development opportunities in the Tennant Creek Region of the Northern Territory.
The aim is to investigate the potential for development of a single, multi-user processing facility for copper, gold and critical metals for their mineral resources and recent high-grade exploration discoveries in the region.
Collectively the parties control 7.3Mt at 0.6g/t gold, 1.7% copper for 145,000oz of gold and 127,000t of copper in mineral resources.
That’s in addition to recent discoveries in the Tennant Creek region including Tennant Minerals’ Bluebird discovery which has returned 61.8m at 2.3% copper and 0.4 g/t gold and 63m at 2.1% copper and 4.6g/t gold, and Emmerson’s Jasper Hills prospect and nearby Hermitage discovery which has returned 119m at 3.3% copper and 0.87g/t gold and 94.4m at 2.74% copper and 5.58g/t gold.
“We are pleased to have signed a strategic alliance agreement to investigate the potential for a single multi-user processing facility for copper, gold and critical metals for our mineral resources and others recent high-grade exploration discoveries in the Tennant Creek region of the Northern Territory,” CuFe executive director Mark Hancock said.
“With the historical high-grade Orlando and Gecko deposits, which produced over 127,500t of copper and 232,000oz of gold, the remaining mineral resources form the backbone of the alliance, while the ability to also leverage from the recent high-grade discoveries by Tennant Minerals and Emmerson in the region provides a unique development opportunity.”
The alliance recognises developing the deposits independently can be economically challenging, however with collaboration the potential of the deposits can be combined, allowing the collective group to investigate larger, more meaningful and more financially attractive development options.
The aim going forwards is to assess the viability of a single multi-user processing which would include investigating the optimal processing plant configuration and location, mine scheduling, the final products to be produced, infrastructure requirements including workforce, travel, power, water, accommodation, transportation, logistics, services and supply of reagents – along with environmental requirements, permits and approvals.
“The production history of Tennant Creek copper and gold supports the shared facility model we plan to investigate in this collaboration,” Tennant Minerals managing director Vincent Algar said.
“The strategy will provide a shorter pathway to production and incentivise TMS to continue its exploration effort targeting further discoveries like Bluebird on our tenements.”
The proposed shared facility is similar to the way the Tennant Creek Mineral Field operated historically, with centralised processing facilities from a number of high-grade mines ‘feeding’ the processing facilities through a ‘hub and spoke’ development and operational model.
“A number of the high-grade copper, gold and critical metals deposits in the Tennant Creek region start as relatively small-scale mines and grow significantly after mining commences,” Emmerson managing director Mike Dunbar said.
“With modern environmental, regulatory and financial hurdles, development of these modest sized deposits independently is now significantly harder than it was historically.
“As a result, a collaborative approach of working together with like-minded ASX-listed companies to investigate shared facilities to build the scale of operations needed for a modern development is, in my opinion, the best way of developing the field.
“I am pleased to be working with the Tennant Minerals and CuFe teams, as I believe this will lead to the best development option for each of the companies and the Tennant Creek community as a whole.”
As a first step the alliance has commenced a review of information to determine options for the initial scoping study, with a view to then moving quickly onto a pre-feasibility study.
Any proposed copper, gold and critical metals facility would be independent of the CIL gold only facility currently under construction in the region by Emmerson’s joint venture partner TCMG.
This article was developed in collaboration with CuFe, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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