The Conversation (0)
CuFe Limited Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects
GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT
CuFe Limited
Investor Insight
CuFe Limited’s multi-commodity exposure offers a compelling diversified investment opportunity into high-growth markets.
Overview
CuFe Limited (ASX:CUF) is a multi-commodity exploration and development company with interest in a number of projects situated throughout mature mining jurisdictions in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The company's value proposition is predicated on its high-grade mature copper/gold project at Tennant Creek as well as its exposure to iron ore, gold and niobium. Its exploration portfolio includes mature copper targets at Tennant Creek and greenfield exploration ground near WA1 Resources' (ASX:WA1) recent niobium discovery.
CuFe’s Tennant Creek project hosts a mineral resource estimate of 10.35 million tons (Mt) at 1.53 percent copper and 0.92 grams per ton (g/t) gold for 159 kt copper and 302 koz gold. CuFe currently owns a 55 percent interest in over 240 kilometres of highly-prospective tenure in the Northern Territory.
The company is progressing a scoping study in collaboration with Emmerson Resources and Tennant Minerals through a strategic alliance focused on establishing a multi-user processing facility and exploring operational synergies in the Tennant Creek region.
CuFe is also evaluating the Yarram project and nearby Camp Creek tenement, both of which benefit from proximity to the Darwin port, enhancing their potential for low OPEX operations.
Company Highlights
- CuFe Limited is an ASX-listed, copper, gold, iron ore and niobium exploration and development company with a multi-commodity portfolio of assets.
- The company's assets are in mature mining regions in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with access to extensive pre-existing infrastructure.
- CuFe's projects are highly prospective for copper (Tennant Creek, Bryah Basin), iron ore (Yarram, Camp Creek, Robertson Range), gold (North Dam, Tambourah, Nullagine) and niobium (West Arunta).
- Two of these projects have existing JORC resources: Tennant Creek (55 percent CuFe owned) and Yarram (50 percent CuFe owned).
- The company is led by a proven and experienced in-house team with expertise in identification, discovery, evaluation, deployment and operations.
Key Projects
Copper
Tennant Creek
CuFe’s Tennant Creek project is located in the highly prospective Gecko-Goanna copper-gold corridor of the Northern Territory. A mature project comprising three high-grade copper and gold mineral resources, it contains a combined JORC 2012 mineral resource of 10.35 Mt at 1.53 percent copper and 0.92 g/t gold for 159 kt copper and 302 koz gold.
The project benefits from nearby infrastructure including grid power, a gas pipeline, the Stuart highway and rail line to Darwin. The Orlando deposit was recently re-estimated, showing a significant increase of 89 percent in contained copper and 120 percent in gold.
The strategic alliance with Emmerson Resources and Tennant Minerals is currently progressing a scoping study on shared plant options, with further workstreams including mine scheduling, metallurgy, logistics and cost modelling.
Gecko and Goanna deposits are also undergoing re-evaluation to identify resource growth opportunities, with further drilling planned during the 2025 field season.
Bryah Basin JV Projects
JV tenements within Bryah Basin
Through wholly owned subsidiary Jackson Minerals, CuFe holds a 20 percent interest in approximately 800 square kilometres of highly-prospective tenements near the former DeGrussa mine and Doolgunna project. These tenements are under joint ventures and farm-ins with several partners, notably the Morck Well and Peak Hill projects. CuFe is free-carried to a decision to mine.
Gold
North Dam
Located 50 kilometres south-southeast of Coolgardie and near major gold deposits like Wattle Dam and Spargos Reward, the North Dam project is transitioning focus back to gold. Future fieldwork will include geophysical surveys and auger drilling to test gold-bearing east-west structures.
Tambourah
The 100 percent owned Tambourah Tenure contains historic gold workings and known gold-bearing quartz reefs. CuFe’s 2024 review identified potential for high-grade mineralisation, supported by historical drill data and recent sampling results up to 11.9 g/t Au. A field campaign and subsequent drilling are planned in 2025.
Niobium
West Arunta
The 100 percent owned West Arunta project consists of four tenements (E80/5925, E80/5950, E80/5990 and E80/6052) located in the highly-prospective region of the same name. The tenure is known to be prospective for carbonatite-hosted niobium and rare earth element mineralization and has IOCG potential. Spanning roughly 250 square kilometres, it is located approximately 70 kilometres north of several prominent recent discoveries by WA1 and Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR).
Total magnetic intensity (TMI) and location of target areas within E80/6052
CuFe has completed native title arrangements to commence work on the ground and this is expected to occur during the 2025 field work season for the region (April to November). In the meantime Southern Geoscience Consulting has undertaken a geophysical review of publicly available airborne magnetic data for the tenements including re-processing of said data and 3D unconstrained inversion modeling. Analysis of the total magnetic imagery revealed three anomalous areas across the package, resulting in nine target anomalies for further investigation and exploration.
Iron
Yarram
Yarram is a mature iron ore project located just 110 kilometres from Darwin Port. It hosts a high-grade DSO resource of 5.6 Mt at over 60 percent Fe, plus an additional 7.1 Mt of lower-grade ore with beneficiation potential.
Geotechnical and metallurgical studies support its suitability for lump product blast furnace feed. CuFe is investigating near-term production strategies, including low-cost strip mining of the Captain Morgan deposit.
Camp Creek
Recently granted, Camp Creek lies 5 km southwest of Yarram and shares similar logistical advantages. Exploration is planned to follow up on magnetic anomalies and historic iron ore assays that suggest potential for Yarram-style mineralisation.
Robertson Range
Located within the Bryah Basin region, this project is undergoing staged field exploration. Initial rock chip samples showed over 60 percent Fe, and the next phase includes drilling to test continuity at depth.
Management Team
Tony Sage - Executive Chairman
Tony Sage is an entrepreneur with over 36 years of experience in corporate advisory services, funds management and capital raising, predominantly within the resource sector. He is based in Western Australia and has continued to be involved in managing and financing listed mining and exploration companies with a diverse commodity base.
Sage has developed global operational experience within Europe, North and South America, Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Middle East. He is currently non-executive chairman of ASX-listed Cyclone Metals (ASX:CLE) and Executive Chairman of European Lithium (ASX:EUR) and NASDAQ listed Critical Metals (NAS:CRML).
Mark Hancock - Executive Director
Mark Hancock has over 30 years’ experience in key financial, commercial and marketing roles across a variety of industries with a strong focus on natural resources. During his 13 years at Atlas Iron Ltd, Hancock served in numerous roles including CCO, CFO, executive director and company secretary. He has also served as a director on a number of ASX listed entities and is currently a director of Centaurus Metals Ltd and Strandline Resources Ltd.
Hancock holds a Bachelor of Business (B.Bus) degree, is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia (F FIN).
David Palmer - Non-executive Director
David Palmer is a geologist and company director with more than 38 years’ experience in the global exploration industry, the majority of his career has been with Rio Tinto Exploration, focused on copper/gold, base metals, industrial minerals, uranium, iron ore,and diamonds throughout Australia and the Asia/Pacific.
Amongst other senior positions, Palmer led the business development, mineral title and indigenous engagement functions and was part of the management team that discovered the world-class Winu Cu-Au deposit. He holds a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) from the University of Newcastle.
Scott Meacock - Non-executive Director
Scott Meacock has a wealth of experience as external counsel acting in, and advising on, complex corporate and commercial law transactions and disputes for clients in a wide range of industry sectors including natural resources and financial services.
Meacock currently serves as the chief executive officer and general counsel of the Gold Valley Group. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree and a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) degree from the University of Western Australia.
Matthew Ramsden - GM Development
Matthew Ramsden is an experienced geologist and project developer commencing his career in Tasmania before stints in the Pilbara with Rio Tinto and Atlas Iron, where he played a key role in the development and ramp-up of six iron ore mines.
He joined CuFe in 2021 to commence the JWD iron ore mine and now has oversight over the company’s exploration and development projects.
Ramsden is a member of the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists.
Siobhán Sweeney - Geology Manager
Siobhán Sweeney brings over 13 years’ geology experience to the CuFe team, from greenfields exploration to resource development with a strong focus on target generation and development of iron ore projects. During her eight years at Atlas Iron, Sweeney was instrumental in developing critical iron ore projects in the Pilbara such as Miralga Creek and Corunna Downs. Her background in managing complex and challenging exploration programs has been key to delivering successful projects.
Since joining CuFe in July 2021, Sweeney has been tasked with developing and implementing mine geology processes during the start-up phase of the JWD mine. Most recently she has delivered a successful exploration drill campaign to further define the Yarram iron ore deposit.
Sweeney is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and holds a Bachelor of Science degree (hons) in geology from the National University of Ireland Galway.
Multi-commodity exploration and development assets in Western Australia and Northern Territory with a focus on copper, gold, iron ore and niobium.
Scoping Study Delivers Robust Economics and Upside Potential
This Scoping Study considers the advancement of Tardiff, a Rare Earth and Niobium project located in the NWT of Canada and 100% owned by Vital Metals. This Study evaluates development of a hard rock starter open pit that extracts only 15% of the total Tardiff Mineral Resource Estimate of 192.7Mt at 1.3% Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO). The adjacent 100% owned North T and South T deposits have not been included as part of this Study.
Highlights:
- Scoping Study delivers robust financial outcomes of:
- Pre-tax NPV8 of US$776M and 32% IRR
- Post-tax NPV8 US$445M and 25.5% IRR
- Base case commodity pricing of US$90/kg of neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr), US$1322/kg for terbium (Tb) and US$338/Kg for dysprosium (Dy). The breakeven price for NdPr using all other prices from the base case is US$33.68/ kg.
- Average annual production estimate of 56kt of concentrate at a grade of 26.4% TREO and 3.3% Nb2O5, with 45.1% global TREO recovery over an initial 11-year life of mine (LOM). Average annual Rare Earth Element (REE) production is estimated to be: 2.9kt of Nd, 0.9kt of Pr with less than 100 tons each of Dy and Tb.
- Further infill drilling should increase the size and confidence of the resource supporting a longer LOM and thereby expanding project economics.
- Pit design targets a daily production of 14,000 tpd (approx. 3,000,000 tpa) with a very low 0.3:1 stripping ratio.
- Capital cost estimated at US$291 million (A$455 million), including a 35% contingency of US$68M; operating cost estimated at US$24/dry metric tonne mined (includes a 20% contingency).
- The Study states that building a Canadian supply chain will be preferred for the project’s success. The Canadian Rare Earth Supply Chain Consortium, in which Vital plays a founding role, will foster the collaboration between industry, government and technical partners to expedite the timeline from lab, and pilot work and demonstration plant to be ready to scale to commercial production of separated metals, permanent magnets and wind turbines.
- To potentially improve the project’s economics, the Study recommends advancing to a prefeasibility Study (PFS) with additional extensive metallurgical testing to:
- Optimize TREO and niobium recoveries;
- Prove the payability of niobium; and
- Test the recovery of zircon.
Vital Metals’ Managing Director Lisa Riley said: "The Study is an essential step towards moving the Project forward. It is a first step towards Vital playing a key role in building critical minerals supply chain in Canada. The Study has outlined the potential to build a viable, long- term rare earths and niobium project at Tardiff. Recommended next steps will aim to capture further economic upside by optimizing REE and Nb recoveries, lifting concentrate grades and delivering higher payability for the economic commodities.”
Figure 1: Vital Metals' Nechalacho Project, Canada
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Vital Metals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
CuFe Limited Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects