Australian firm Cyprium Metals has entered into a letter of intent (LoI) with commodities trader Glencore for a A$50-million offtake prepayment facility, as part of a targeted A$240-million to A$260-million funding package to finance the restart of the Nifty copper project, in Western Australia.
In terms of the LoI, Glencore will take 100% of the Phase 1 copper cathode produced at Nifty, up to 120 000 t at prices to be determined at average market rates.
“We are very pleased to enter into an exclusive LoI for a copper cathode offtake secured prepayment facility with Glencore. This is part of a fully funded finance package for the Nifty copper project,” said MD Barry Cahill.
He noted that the Nifty restart project economics were robust and that the company continued to make further improvements to the project during the financing process.
A March 2022 restart study estimated that Nifty would require a capital injection of A$149-million, and that it could produce 25 000 t/y of copper cathode. The Nifty operation has produced more than 700 000 t of copper metal between commencement of the oxide operation in 1993 and November 2019, when the mine was placed into care and maintenance. The single deposit is still ranked in the top 20 copper mineral resources by in-situ copper metal tonnes in Australia, with considerable potential to increase this further.