Dual-listed Ivanhoe Electric has announced the results of an initial assessment for its Santa Cruz underground copper project, in Arizona, which the company sees as a potential new source of "responsibly produced ‘green’ copper” to enhance US supply chain independence.

The assessment outlines a potential 5.9-million tonnes a year underground mining operation, supported by 105.2-million tonnes of modelled mill feed with an average grade of 1.58% copper, resulting in a 20-year mine life.

The Santa Cruz mine will produce one-million tonnes of 99.99% pure copper cathode and 0.6-million tonnes of copper contained in a 48% copper concentrate with low deleterious elements, such as arsenic or lead.

Life-of-mine C1 cash costs are expected to be $1.36/lb of copper.

The assessment estimates capital expenditure of $1.15-billion, with an after-tax net present value of $ 1.3-billion, at an 8% discount rate, and an internal rate of return of 23%.

“We are excited about the future of our Santa Cruz project,” comments Ivanhoe Electric chairperson Robert Friedland. He notes the mine will be a source of “responsibly produced 'green' copper” for the US.

“Our goal is to develop a modern copper mine that produces copper with among the lowest levels of carbon dioxide output in the industry; a product we think has the potential to attract a premium price in the future.

“Using primarily onsite renewable electricity generation, and with the potential to increase that to meet the project’s entire future needs, the initial assessment shows us that we are on the right track to achieving our goal at Santa Cruz and our larger goal of enhancing the US supply chain independence for critical minerals.”

The initial assessment focuses exclusively on the high-grade exotic, oxide and enriched domains of the Santa Cruz and East Ridge deposits. The oxide and enriched domains of the Texaco deposit are not included in the current study (2.7-million tonnes indicated grading 1.42% total copper and 27.3-million tonnes inferred grading 1.39% total copper, using a 0.80% cut-off grade).

Future studies could evaluate the potential addition of the large primary sulphide domains at Santa Cruz (76.2-million tonnes indicated grading 0.88% total copper and 8.0-million tonnes inferred grading 0.92% total copper, using a 0.70% cut-off grade) and at the Texaco deposit (0.9-million tonnes indicated grading 1.05% total copper and 35.0-million tonnes inferred grading 1.06% total copper, using a 0.80% cut-off grade), subject to market conditions.