PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into the Koongie Park copper/zinc project, in Western Australia, has found that the project could have a mine life of some 11 years.

ASX-listed AuKing Mining told shareholders that the study was based on mining four openpit mines and an underground mine, which would include fellow-listed Cazaly Resources’ Halls Creek copper deposits.

The study found that over the 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 has been estimated at A$443.8-million.

“The results of the scoping study show the potential to establish a significant copper/zinc mining operation near Halls Creek in north-east Western Australia. The exploration team worked extremely hard throughout late 2021 and 2022 to provide a solid foundation for the scoping study,’ said AuKing CEO Paul Williams on Thursday.

“The proposed contribution of the nearby deposits of Cazaly Resources also makes a significant contribution to the project economics,” he added.

“The AuKing board is delighted with the robustness of the project and its resilience to multiple factors that the resource industry is experiencing in Western Australia with increasing cost escalation and market conditions. The development team will now diligently progress all the necessary technical components and engineering work streams to ensure the project is sufficiently de-risked allowing the company to progress further development studies and possibly a final investment decision late next year.

“The board has approved the commencement of further studies at the project due to the compelling economics and the continuing strong copper market fundamentals,” said Williams.