New World Resources progresses permitting for Antler copper project

New World Resources submits Aquifer Protection Permit for Antler copper project in Arizona, USA
The project is one of highest-grade copper deposits globally with 11.4Mt at 4.1% copper-equivalent
Permitting expected to be approved progressively in 2025

Special Report: New World Resources is advancing permitting for its Antler copper project in the US, with the submission of the Aquifer Protection Permit to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to support the development of its flagship project.

Antler currently hosts a resource estimate of 11.4Mt at 2.1% copper, 5.0% zinc, 0.9% lead, 32.9g/t silver and 0.36g/t gold (11.4Mt at 4.1% copper-equivalent) – making it one of the highest-grade copper deposits in the world (on a copper-equivalent basis).

The company also recently released a pre-feasibility study for the project which evaluated the development of an underground mining operation, together with construction of a processing plant, pastefill plant, a fully-lined dry-stack tailings storage facility and associated infrastructure.

The base case economics are robust, with long-term metal price forecasts used to model the economic potential of the project, with net smelter return revenues projected to average US$202.43 per tonne of ore milled over the 12.2-year life of mine and a Project post tax NPV of nearly US$500m.

This permit details the rigorous design of mineral processing and waste disposal facilities at site and will ensure the project meets State and Federal groundwater management and protection standards.

Best practice water management

Over the life-of-mine, Antler’s water management and processing circuit is designed and optimised to be non-discharging so as to conserve and recycle water to the greatest extent possible.

In fact, the majority of site infrastructure has been designed to meet ADEQ’s Best Available Demonstrated Control Technology (BADCT) standards, which are considered industry leading.

These facility designs in accordance with BADCT standards are expected to expedite the ADEQ’s technical review and reduce the timeframe for the approval of the APP.

“The design standards and water management infrastructure are truly industry best practice, and we very much look forward to the ADEQ reviewing the application as prepared,” New World Resources (ASX:NWC) MD and CEO Nick Woolrych said.

“Given that the APP is the State permit that is expected to have the longest approval timeframe, the development team has ensured that any determination timelines are minimised to the extent possible by ensuring that the majority of the infrastructure as designed complies to BADCT standards.

“The APP application, together with the Federal permit application we submitted in January 2024 and the recently submitted air quality permit application, means that New World has now submitted applications for all the permits with long lead-times that are required to allow both development and mining of the Antler Project to proceed.”

The submission of additional State permit applications relating to underground mining activities will continue through 2024, with mine permits expected to be progressively approved through 2025.

In addition, the definitive feasibility study is continuing in parallel with local and regional exploration and mine permitting, to further de-risk and enhance the highly robust, stand-alone development credentials of the project.

This article was developed in collaboration with New World Resources, 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.