PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into the Walford Creek copper/cobalt project, in Queensland, has demonstrated that the asset is amenable to development, ASX-listed Aeon Metals reports.
The scoping study found that the project supports a mine life of 11 years, based on an estimated 146 000 t of copper and 22 000 t of cobalt contained in the project area, with the project expected to deliver 42 000 t of copper equivalent production a year.
The project is likely to require a capital investment of A$323-million to develop the conventional openpit and underground mining operation, with the 1.5-million-tonne-a-year heap leach operation combined with a two-million-tonne-a-year flotation process plant to treat higher grade material.
The scoping study estimated an ungeared post-tax net present value of A$431-million and an internal rate of return of 34%, with a pay-back period of three years.
Aeon MD Hamish Collins said that the base metal product streams to be produced from Walford Creek offered metal price leverage to both conventional metal markets as well as the electric vehicle battery and associated infrastructure space.
“There are few base metals projects with an initial operating life of more than ten years that can deliver forecast internal rate of return in excess of 30% post-tax. The scoping study demonstrates that a Walford Creek development has the potential to provide these attractive returns.”
A prefeasibility study on the project is now under way, targeted for completion by the second quarter of 2020.