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CuFe Limited (CuFe), Emmerson Resources Limited (Emmerson) and Tennant Minerals Limited (Tennant) (the Parties) are pleased to announce they have entered into a landmark Strategic Alliance Agreement to investigate the potential for development of a single, multi-user processing facility for Copper, Gold and Critical Metals for their Mineral Resources and recent high-grade exploration discoveries in the Tennant Creek region of the Northern Territory (see Figure 1).
Emmerson Resources Limited, CuFe Limited and Tennant Minerals Limited are pleased to announce the formation of a Strategic Alliance to collaborate on their copper, gold and critical metals development opportunities in the Tennant Creek Region of the Northern Territory.
The Alliance aims include:
- Assess the development options including the viability of a single multi-user processing facility in the high- grade Tennant Creek region including:
- The optimal processing plant configuration and location
- Mine scheduling
- Final products to be produced
- Infrastructure requirements including workforce, travel, power, water, accommodation, transportation, logistics, services and supply of reagents
- Environmental requirements and considerations including permits and approvals
- General logistics
- Completing a Scoping Study on development options for the Emmerson and Tennant Minerals 100% owned deposits and the CuFe operated JV deposits (CuFe 55% / Gecko Mining Company P/L 45%)
- Upon completing the Scoping Study, undertake a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) on the preferred option(s) to develop the deposits
- Investigate potential synergies with other explorers and developers in the region
- A commitment to work collaboratively including joint funding of Alliance activities
- Activities to commence in Q4 2024
Tennant Minerals Managing Director Vincent Algar said: “The production history of Tennant Creek copper and gold supports the shared facility model we plan to investigate in this collaboration. The strategy will provide a shorter pathway to production and incentivise TMS to continue its exploration effort targeting further discoveries like Bluebird on our tenements.”
Emmerson Managing Director Mike Dunbar said: “A number of the high-grade copper, gold and critical metals deposits in the Tennant Creek region start as relatively small scale mines and grow significantly after mining commences. With modern environmental, regulatory and financial hurdles, development of these modest sized deposits independently is now significantly harder than it was historically. As a result, a collaborative approach of working together with like-minded ASX listed Companies to investigate shared facilities to build the scale of operations needed for a modern development is, in my opinion, the best way of developing the field. I am pleased to be working with the Tennant Minerals and CuFe teams, as I believe this will lead to the best development option for each of the Companies and the Tennant Creek community as a whole.”
CuFe Executive Director Mark Hancock said: “We are pleased to have signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement to investigate the potential for a single multi-user processing facility for copper, gold and critical metals for our Mineral Resources and others recent high-grade exploration discoveries in the Tennant Creek region of the Northern Territory. With the historical high-grade Orlando and Gecko deposits, which produced over 127,500t of copper and 232,000oz of gold, the remaining Mineral Resources form the backbone of the Alliance, while the ability to also leverage from the recent high-grade discoveries by Tennant Minerals and Emmerson in the region provides a unique development opportunity.”
Collectively the Parties control 7.3Mt @ 0.6g/t gold, 1.7% Copper for 145,000oz of gold and 127,000t of copper in Mineral Resources (See Table 1 for breakdown of the JORC Minerals Resources) in addition to the recent high-grade copper, gold and critical metals discoveries in the Tennant Creek region. This includes Tennant Mineral’s Bluebird discovery which has returned intersections of up to 61.8m @ 2.3% Cu and 0.4 g/t gold and 63m @ 2.1% Cu and 4.6g/t gold (See ASX:TMS announcements dated 12 February 2024 and 17 August 2022 ) and Emmerson’s Jasper Hills prospect and the nearby Hermitage discovery which has returned intersections up to 119m @ 3.3% Cu and 0.87g/t gold and 94.4m @ 2.74% Cu and 5.58g/t gold (see ASX:ERM announcement dated 17 August 2022).
The Alliance recognises that as with all of the historical high-grade deposits in the Tennant Creek district, developing the deposits independently can be economically challenging, however with collaboration the potential of the deposits can be combined, allowing the collective group to investigate larger, more meaningful and more financially attractive development options. This strategy will provide a significant shift in the scale of any potential development in the Tennant Creek district to the benefit of each of the Companies and the Tennant Creek community as a whole.
The proposed shared facility is similar to the way the Tennant Creek Mineral Field (TCMF) operated historically, with centralised processing facilities from a number of the high-grade mines “feeding” the processing facilities through a “hub and spoke” development and operational model. It is this style of development and processing solution that the Strategic Alliance plans to actively investigate. As a first step the Alliance has commenced a review of information to determine options for the initial Scoping Study, with a view to then moving quickly onto a Pre-Feasibility Study and we look forward to positive outcomes emerging.
There is a significant opportunity in the Tennant Creek region for development of a dedicated multi-user copper (and associated metals including gold) facility in the region. Any proposed copper, gold and critical metals facility would be independent of the CIL gold only facility currently under construction in the region by Emmerson’s joint venture partner TCMG.
Figure 1: Tennant Creek District showing the location of CuFe’s, Tennant Minerals’ and 100% Emmerson’s Projects and area covered by Emmerson’s Exploration JV (EEJV) with TCMGNote: Quoted production from major historical deposits after Ahmad, M. and Munson, T.J. (2013). Geology and mineral resources of the Northern Territory, Special Publication 5, For Chariot mine and Malbec West mine, quoted production from Giants Reef Mill Reconciled Production to end of month September 2005 (Giants Reef internal reporting).
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This article includes content from CUFE LTD, 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.
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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's recent niobium discovery.
CuFe’s Tennant Creek project hosts a mineral resource estimate of 10.35 million tons (Mt) at 1.5 percent copper and 0.9 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 the highly-prospective tenure in the Northern Territory.
CuFe's near-term plan for the mine involves a staged cutback of the Orlando open pit to gain access to an ore supply for fast start options.
CuFe is also evaluating the Yarram project, as its proximity to the Darwin port gives it the potential for low OPEX.
CuFe is led by a highly experienced management team adept at identifying opportunities, making discoveries, evaluating and developing projects and maintaining operations. The team is led by executive director Mark Hancock, who has 25 years experience in resource projects across a variety of commodities in senior finance, commercial and marketing roles.
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 situated 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, being 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 0.9 g/t gold for 159 kt copper and 302 koz gold. Highly-prospective for further resource growth from resource extensions and new discoveries, Tennant Creek is also located near grid power, a gas pipeline, the Stuart highway and the rail line to Darwin.
The area where Tennant Creek is hosted is a re-emerging mineral field with recent neighbouring exploration success from companies such as Emmerson Resources (ASX:ERM) and Tennant Minerals (ASX:TMS). Near-mine targets include the potential to extend resources and open enrichment within the Orlando and Gecko structural corridors. Emmerson Resources, CuFe and Tennant Minerals formed a strategic alliance to collaborate on copper, gold and critical metals development opportunities in the Tennant Creek Region of the Northern Territory. This alliance aims to assess the development options including the viability of a single multi-user processing facility in the high- grade region.
The current focus for Tennant Creek is to identify and drill high-potential exploration targets with a view to growing the resource base while considering a staged cutback of the existing Orlando open pit to gain access to an ore supply for a fast start option.
Bryah Basin JV projects
Through wholly owned subsidiary Jackson Minerals, CuFe has a 20 percent interest in roughly 800 square kilometres of highly-prospective tenements proximal to the former Sandfire Resources' (ASX:SFR) Doolgunna project and Degrussa copper gold mine, as well as several other prominent gold and copper prospects. Collectively known as the Bryah Basin JV projects, the tenements are currently subject to joint ventures and farm-ins with several companies. The most prominent of these is the Morck Well project, which is under an exploration licence with Auris Minerals (ASX:AUR) alongside the Forrest project.
The Morck Well project tenements cover an area of 600 square kilometres in the highly-prospective region, which has also been recognized to have high iron ore potential and this now comprises the company’s Robertson Range iron ore project
Gold
North Dam
The North Dam project is roughly 50 kilometres south-southeast of the township of Coolgardie and in close proximity to the Wattle Dam, Spargos Reward and Lady Allison gold deposits
To date, work on the project has focused on lithium and rare earth potential but the focus of future exploration will be gold.
Tambourah
The 100 percent owned Tambourah Tenure is a prospective exploration with known gold occurrences. Located roughly 90 kilometres south of the Pilgangoora and Wodgina lithium complexes, and 175 kilometres south of Port Hedland, the project was historically explored for gold and contains known gold occurrences within alluvial material and reef systems. Current work on the project to date has involved geological mapping and rock chip sampling.
Niobium
West Arunta
The 100 percent owned West Arunta project consists of four tenements 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 ENC.
CuFe has recently completed native title arrangements to commence work in 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
The Yarram iron ore project is a mature development opportunity with the potential for low-cost production. CuFe currently holds a 50 percent interest in the project, which includes operatorship. Partially located on an existing mining lease on freehold land, Yarram has a high-grade DSO resource of 5.6 MT at +60 percent iron as well as a low-grade component of 7.1 Mt with the potential for beneficiation.
Situated 110 kilometres from Darwin Port and adjacent to underutilised mining infrastructure, Yarram also features favourable ore body geometry, with existing infrastructure and services contributing to its low capex and opex.
An initial diamond drilling program provided HG core from two deposits within the project.
Physical and thermal metallurgical testing confirms the generation of a lump product with roughly 41 percent yield, elevated gangue levels in the very fine fractions and acceptable thermal and materials handling properties, making it suitable as a blast furnace lump burden feed.
CuFe has also undertaken geotechnical testwork on the diamond drill core to provide parameters for pit optimizations and designs. Final pit shells and a high-level mine schedule have been developed for use in regulatory approvals.
The company has recently been granted a further tenement south of Yarram, known as Camp Creek which is prospective for iron ore and field work is planned for the current year.
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 Limited (ASX:CLE) and Executive Chairman of European Lithium (ASX:EUR) and NASDAQ listed Critical Metals Corp (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, 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.
CuFe Limited Investor Kit
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