PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Metals X has reported a 10% increase in the mineral resource estimate for the Nifty copper project, in Western Australia, as the company flagged a possible sale of the asset.
Metals X in December last year suspended mining operations at Nifty as the mine continued to perform below expectations.
Metals X on Tuesday noted that since the last mineral resource estimate in March of last year, the company has completed 309 diamond drill holes for 29 764 m of drilling, with a focus on infill and resource definition programmes. The company also completed a revised geological model for the Nifty project.
The additional drilling has resulted in a 10% increase in the contained sulphide copper mineral resource at Nifty, which now stood at 39.66-mllion tonnes, grading 1.51% copper for 598 500 t of contained copper.
“Metals X in the last nine months of 2019 invested A$4.1-million in underground drilling at the Nifty copper mine, which resulted in a 10% increase in contained sulphide copper met to now report a combined total measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource of 658 500 t,” said executive chairperson Patrick O’Connor.
“Nifty has a large copper endowment, impressive exploration potential and production-ready infrastructure that provides excellent leverage to any improvements to copper prices.
“Metals X is currently undertaking a strategic review of its copper assets, which include the Nifty copper mine, Maroochydore copper project and surrounding Paterson exploration tenure. The board, in consultation with its advisers, is exploring various options for these copper assets including joint ventures and the partial or complete divestment of some or all of these assets, with a view to maximizing value for Metals X shareholders.”