Emerging copper company Cyprium Metals has published the scoping study for its Nifty copper surface mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The study found that the optimal pit contains 70 million tonnes of sulphide ore at 0.9 per cent copper for about 570,000 tonnes of recovered copper. As a result, the Nifty mine is expected to produce 36,000 tonnes of copper on average per annum.
The ore feed rate capacity also increased to 4.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from the initial 3.5mtpa recorded from the optimisation phase.
“This is a meaningful step for Cyprium that consolidates months of work,” Cyprium Metals executive chair Matt Fifield said. “The opportunity is clear.
“This study outlines the high-level plan for accessing the large sulphide resource at Nifty. A relatively large truck-shovel surface mine enables us to best recover the significant resources at Nifty.
“A moderate investment in the brownfield processing plant capacity can nearly double the potential throughput of the plant, enabling the surface mine to produce around 36,000 tonnes of copper metal per year by matching strong mine design, right equipment selection and expanded processing capacity.
“We will refine this plan in the coming months.”
Cyprium is expected to spend $175 million on the Nifty plant refurbishment, expansion and ancillary site capital to recommence processing operations at a 4.5mtpa throughput.
The Cyprium board has also approved for a pre-feasibility study to progress once a reserve report has been completed.
“Nifty has many advantages that de-risk the ultimate project execution: brownfield site with existing infrastructure, a large resource that can be processed through the on-site concentrator, the choice of world class suppliers and partners in Western Australia, and existing permits that facilitate speed to market,” Fifield said.
“It’s clear that we have an economic project concept. With continued execution by the Cyprium team and its strong engineering partners we expect this study to advance quickly towards execution planning.”
Cyprium acquired the Nifty mine from Metals X in February 2021.
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