PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed AuKing has taken full ownership of the Koongie Park copper/zinc project, in Western Australia, with project partner Astral Resources' interest converting to a 1% net smelter return royalty.

Full ownership was triggered under a 2021 earn-in and joint venture (JV) agreement between the companies that stated that Astral’s share in the project would convert to a net smelter royalty should its interest in the JV drop below 10%.

This threshold was reached at the end of June.

Astral will retain the right to explore and develop gold and other precious metals opportunities within the Koongie Park project area, but the rights would not apply to the mining licences on which the Onedin and Sandiego deposits are located.

“We are very pleased to have reached this acquisition milestone, within two years of the JV’s commencement. Having completed more than 10 000 m of additional drilling, expanded the existing Joint Ore Reserves Committee resources at Sandiego and Onedin, reported a maiden resource for Emull, and then recently presented the results of a scoping study, we believe that Koongie Park is now well established on a development path to coincide with the likely strong future demand for copper and zinc,” said AuKing CEO Paul Williams.

The scoping study, released at the start of June, found that over an 11-year mine life, Koongie Park could produce 110 000 t of copper, 38 000 t of zinc and 355 000 oz of silver based on a processing capacity of 750 000 t/y of run-of-mine ore.

The scoping study estimated a pre-production capital cost of A$134-million to develop the project, with a pay-back period of just under three years, with the study also estimating a pre-tax net present value of A$176.9-million and an internal rate of return of 39.7%. The project’s life-of-mine earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation have been estimated at A$443.8-million.