London-listed Anglesey Mining, which is developing a copper/zinc deposit in North Wales, has appointed a new CEO, who will be tasked with moving the Parys Mountain project towards production and raising the funds needed to do so.
The company on Thursday announced the appointment of Jo Battershill as CEO and director with effect from August 1, taking over from Bill Hooley who would relinquish his position as CEO to become deputy chairperson.
Battershill, a mining geology graduate from Camborne School of Mines, has extensive experience in operations and in finance in Australia and the UK.
“I am very pleased to welcome Jo into Anglesey Mining and we are delighted that we have been able to attract someone with his strong operations background and financing experience. He has great enthusiasm and brings vigour and deep relevant technical and finance knowledge to the company,” said chairperson John Kearney.
The Parys Mountain mine, on the Anglesey island, would require about $99-million in initial capital, according to the 2021 preliminary economic assessment (PEA). This, together with all other pre-decision project costs, as well as ongoing corporate costs needs to be financed.
The company indicated that it was examining possible financing routes, including the traditional equity-debt scenario, as well as joint venture and other arrangements. Detailed results of the PEA had been made available to several entities who had shown interest in the project.
Anglesey stated that it had become clear that financing opportunities would be enhanced with some additional work to further derisk the project and that a feasibility study would be required.
According to the PEA, completed by Micon International, the project has a mineral resource of 5.2-million tonnes of indicated resources at a combined base metal grade of 4.3%, together with 11.7-million tonnes of inferred resources at a combined base metal grade of 2.8%.
The resource estimate in the PEA indicates that Parys Mountain, reputedly the largest copper mine in the world in the eighteenth century, contains 160 000 t of copper in situ, with a gross contained metal value in the ground of more than $1.4-billion.