PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper/gold miner Sandfire Resources was committed to spending cash to increase production, despite the depressed commodity market, nonexecutive chairperson Derek La Ferla has told shareholders.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting, La Ferla this week said the company would deploy the cash flow generated by its flagship DeGrussa project, in Western Australia, across three key pillars that include investment in ongoing operating needs such as mine development and debt reduction, investing in indirect shareholder returns such as exploration and business development, and direct shareholder returns through dividends.

“Despite the challenging times confronting the resource sector, we do not wish to become stagnant or too afraid to commit serious funds to invest and grow. We must continue to do everything we can to create a meaningful growth path for the company into the future, to create a well-stocked pipeline of growth opportunities that will allow us to continue to develop as a truly diversified mining house for years to come.”

La Ferla told shareholders to expect Sandfire to invest strongly in organic growth through exploration, as well as in advancing and growing the company’s business development in 2015, and beyond.

“While we have achieved a great deal in the past five years, we recognise that as a single-mine company, we have only completed the first few chapters of what we believe will ultimately be a much bigger story.”

The nonexecutive chairperson pointed to Sandfire’s recent participation in two exploration opportunities, with its investment in Toronto-listed Tintina Resources and WCB Resources.

Sandfire spent some C$16-million for a 36% stake in Tintina, which is developing the Black Butte copper project, in the US, and which has a measured and indicated resource of some 15.75-million tonnes, grading 3.4% copper, for 533 000 t of contained copper, and an inferred resource of 2.3-million tonnes, grading 2.8% copper, for 63 500 t of contained copper.

In April this year, the miner subscribed for A$5.9-million shares in TSX-listed WBC Resources, which was earning a 70% interest in the Misima copper/gold project, in Papua New Guinea.

“These investments have, respectively, given us a seat at the table to participate in the development of a premier high-grade US copper deposit and exploration for a potential world-class porphyry copper/gold deposit on the Misima Islands, in Papua New Guinea,” La Ferla said.