Copper 360 (JSE: CPR) has announced a significant discovery at its Tweefontein mine. Drilling and surface sampling confirmed a potentially large, on-surface, high-grade copper deposit at the first of four Magnetic Drone delineated anomalies at the historically mined site.
“The Tweefontein site, with its past of high-grade copper production, has come to the forefront with copper grades that are simply staggering, some reaching as high as 17% in situ,” said Copper 360 chief executive Jan Nelson.
“The Tweefontein Mine that was historically mined was the highest grade producing mine in the entire copper district with an average recovered grade of over 25%,” said Nelson.
“Magnetic Drone surveys and surface sampling by our geological team delineated the 1.5km anomaly adjacent to the historical copper pay-shoots and further confirmed by surface sampling over the anomaly on zone one with copper values of up to 17% in situ. Our drilling down to 50m confirmed a zone of between 5m to 14m with grades of between 2,71% Cu and 3,74% Cu in situ. The mineralization is open to depth,” he said.
Nelson added that this discovery is significant. “We have only scratched the surface and have yet to drill further to depth and test the other 3 anomalies which are much larger than the first anomaly we drilled. Should these anomalies yield the same result then we could easily have identified a new mine that could be 4 times the size of the Rietberg Mine and three times the grade.”
Highlights:
- High-resolution Drone Survey delineated at least a 1,5km magnetic anomaly on surface, with 4 distinct copper anomalies.
- Surface sampling confirms copper grades of between 2,12% and 17,47% on surface at the first anomaly.
- Mineralised borehole intersection grades vary from 5,0m @ 2,71% Cu in situ to 14m @ 3,74% Cu in situ at anomaly 1.
- The strike extent of the anomaly is projected to be at least 500m from current geological data.
- The Copper mineralization represents what could be a new copper mine adjacent to the historically mined Tweefontein Mine.
- The Tweefontein mine reportedly produced 138,683 tonnes of rock at a recovered grade of 25,4% between 1937 and 1950.
- Drilling is ongoing and will target anomalies 2,3 and 4 next.
The exploration campaign is set to progress to the additional anomalies, each promising the potential to redefine the scale and economics of copper mining in the Northern Cape district.
“The exploration of the subsequent anomalies could unveil a mining operation of unprecedented scale and efficiency, dwarfing historical achievements,” Nelson added.
“This discovery has just proven again that South Africa has a significant copper district,” said Nelson. “South Africa is known for its significant gold, diamond, coal, and platinum deposits but when people think about copper, they always think about central Africa, Chile, Australia, and North America. It’s time that the new kid on the block, South Africa’s Northern Cape Copper district, makes its impact.”
Nelson noted and added that, when accounting for infrastructure, copper deposits in the Northern Cape will far outstrip deposits in markets like the Democratic Republic of Congo in terms of cost, margin, and revenue potential.
“It’s been an extremely busy period for us,” said Nelson.
“The next six months will be even busier. We now must put our heads down and bring all this to account. We have three plants. One is already in production, and two going into production. There’s a fourth plant coming into production at the end of the year, and there’s the Rietberg mine we’re putting into production,” he added and noted that along with recent drilling, he expects one or two open pit operations to further supplement production in the coming months.
Nelson added that Copper 360 has been in negotiations to install additional offtake agreements to sate additional production output and noted the warm reception of the market to its product.
“Our copper cathode is probably some of the best in the world. And that that’s been confirmed by independent consultants in terms of purity and, and form. And then our concentrate is running 40% and 50% copper, which is also some of the highest-grade copper concentrate you can get. This is what the market wants, ergo we’ve had very good support”.
Nelson is positive about forecasts that have set the copper price in a range of USD 12000-15000 per tonne later this year.
“While the price is somewhat softer presently, at around USD 8500 per tonne, it remains profitable. However, market predictions of significant price increases are encouraging as the global economy is expected to shift gears later this year, impacting demand,” said Nelson.
“The bottom line to that is, there’s significant value and revenue being generated. We spent a considerable amount of capital to get to this point, and now we’re going to start seeing the rewards of that capital investment,” said Nelson.
“And with that, we are going to create a very positive return for our shareholders, for our communities, for our workers and the people of South Africa. And we’re going to show that despite all the negative sentiment, you can still build a world-class company in this country that can compete with any other company in the world.”
For further information please visit www.copper360.co.za