New World has blown its own expectations out of the water with the definition of a maiden high-grade resource of 7.7Mt at 3.9% copper equivalent for its Antler project.

And that’s just the first salvo. The second – that 74% of the resource is in the high-confidence indicated category – just sinks any doubts that naysayers might have.

Indicated resources have sufficient information on geology and grade continuity to support mine planning, a point that New World Resources (ASX:NWC) is leveraging by moving to integrate the resource into mine design work for the preparation of mine permit applications.

To top it off, the company has also identified significant potential to expand the current resource.

“We are extremely pleased to have exceeded our expectations for both the tonnes and the grade of our maiden JORC mineral resource estimate for the Antler copper deposit,” managing director Mike Haynes.

“With 74% of the resources classified in the ‘Indicated’ category, and the resource holding together really well at increasingly rigorous cut-off grades, we are confident we have a very sizeable and robust resource that is likely to underpin development of a high-grade mining operation that should have a long and profitable life, regardless of metal prices.

“But we also see that there’s a lot more mineralisation to be discovered at Antler. So while we work to advance the project to production as quickly as practicable, we’ll concurrently work on expanding the resource as quickly as possible – as these should both be huge value drivers.”

new world resources
All Indicated and Inferred blocks greater than 1.0% copper equivalent for the Antler Resource Block Model – looking north. Pic: Supplied

Antler resource

The Antler resource is based on data from 201 holes (124 historical and 77 New World) totalling 40,264m and 82 level samples.

This resulted in the definition of the 7.7Mt resource grading 2.2% copper, 5.3% zinc, 0.9% lead, 28.8 gram per tonne (g/t) silver and 0.18g/t gold at a 1% copper equivalent cut-off.

Its robust nature is highlighted when an even more rigorous 2% copper equivalent cut-off is applied, leading to a resource of 6.4Mt at 2.4% copper, 5.9% zinc, 0.9% lead, 29.8g/t silver and 0.2g/t gold (4.3% copper equivalent).

New World explains that this represents a reduction of just 5% in tonnes of contained metal, which supports its expectation that it should be possible to restart production at Antler for the first time since 1970 with a modest capital investment, relatively low operating costs, and significant production rates.

There is also potential for further growth with assays currently pending for 12 completed holes that were not included in the resource estimate.

Antler mineralisation is also open at depth and along strike to the south where strong undrilled geophysical anomalies are high-priority targets for resource expansion.

To reflect this, the company has set a new exploration target to expand the resource in the next 9-12 months to between 10Mt to 12Mt grading 3% and 4% copper equivalent.

Three rigs are continuing to operate at Antler targeting extensions.

Any resource upgrades are expected to enhance the economics of restarting mining at the project by increasing optimal throughputs, which will lower unit operating costs, and extend the life of any mining operation.

 

 

 

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.