Copper producer Austral Resources Australia Ltd’s (ASX:AR1) board has approved a Scoping Study for the Lady Colleen Development Project.
The scoping study has commenced to assess the potential of the Lady Colleen Mineral Resource to support an open cut mining project.
Lady Colleen is located on an existing Mining Lease (ML90170) within 2 km of the Mt Kelly processing facility where Austral is currently producing copper cathode from the Anthill mine.
Existing infrastructure, which sits within granted mining leases, will also be available for the Lady Colleen project, including workshop, haul road, ROM pad, and camp.
The current diamond drilling program at Lady Colleen is targeting extensions to the existing Mineral Resource Estimate as well as upgrading portions of the Inferred Resource to Indicated and Measured status.
Drill core from the current drilling program will be utilised to create a composite that is representative of the Lady Colleen deposit, that will be used for flotation test work and to test the metallurgical characteristics of the ore.
Austral’s Mt Kelly copper oxide heap leach and solvent extraction electrowinning (SXEW) plant has a nameplate capacity of 30,000tpa of copper cathode.
The company has developed its Anthill oxide copper mine which has an Ore Reserve of 5.06Mt at 0.94% Cu.
It expects to produce 40,000t of copper cathode over a four-year period from mid-2022.
Austral also owns a significant copper inventory with a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 60Mt@ 0.7% Cu (420,000t of contained copper) and 2,100km2 of highly prospective exploration tenure in the heart of the Mt Isa district, a world class copper and base metals province.
The company is implementing an intensive exploration and development programme designed to extend the life of mine, increase its resource base and then review options to commercialise its copper resources.
