PERTH (miningweekly.com) – An independent scoping study into the Antler copper project, in Arizona, has estimated that the project will have an initial mine life of ten years and produce 271 240 t of copper equivalent over the initial operating life, including 136 000 t of copper-in-concentrate.

ASX-listed New World Resources on Monday reported that based on a mining operation of one-million tonnes a year, the scoping study estimated that the Antler project could produce an average of 30 600 t/y of copper equivalent metal in concentrate, once steady-state production was reached, equating to 15 350 t/y of copper-in-concentrate.

The scoping study estimated that the project would require a capital investment of $201-million and would generate revenues of $2-billion over its operating life, with free cash flow estimated at $952-million and C1 costs on a copper-equivalent basis of $1.66/lb.

The study estimated a net present value of $524.9-million, and an internal rate of return of 42%.

“Following the exceptional success of our exploration programmes since we commenced drilling in March 2020, it is very pleasing to have completed a scoping study on the potential development of the Antler project,” said New World MD and CEO Mike Haynes.

“This study provides an initial evaluation of a low-impact, high-margin operation, for a modest capital outlay. This contemplates annual production of approximately 30 000 t of copper-equivalent metal in concentrates on an annual basis. The forecast production includes approximately 15 000 t of copper-in-concentrate, which because of the substantial value of the co-products, could have a negative C1 cost for copper production.

“If achieved, this would make us one of the lowest-cost copper producers in the world,” Haynes said.

He noted that while the scoping study is based on a 10-year initial operating life, New World could extend this mine life by expanding the resource.

“With Arizona being one of the most favourable mining jurisdictions in the world, we are going to continue to push to get Antler back into production as quickly as practicable. We have identified multiple areas for enhancement, which will be addressed in a prefeasibility study that we have already commenced. We will continue to target expansion of the mineral resource base with further exploration drilling. And we will use the results of this scoping study to prepare mine permit applications.

“All these activities afford us considerable opportunities to continue to realise value from Antler,” said Haynes.