Austral Resources has entered an agreement with Glencore AG to acquire the Lady Loretta copper mine in Queensland as the company looks to add additional feedstock to its Mt Kelly processing plant.
The move sees Austral consolidate its position in the state, with the tenure adjacent to the company’s Lady Annie copper mine and includes mining leases, exploration permits and site infrastructure.
As a result of the acquisition Austral is set to receive over $45 million from Glencore and will see the company also acquire 100 per cent of Noranda Pacific, the owner and operator of the mine.
“This is a strategically important transaction for Austral and is a highly attractive outcome for shareholders,” Austral chairman David Newling said.
“With the three key pillars of our consolidation strategy now complete, our focus turns to disciplined execution advancing near-mine opportunities at Lady Annie, progressing Rocklands toward restart in 2027, and building a long-term, multi-asset copper business capability of producing around 50,000 tonnes per annum of copper metal in North-West Queensland.”
The Lady Loretta mine is located approximately 150km north-west of Mount Isa. The operation has been producing high-grade zinc-lead ore since 2012, with ore historically mined at 1.6 million tonnes per year and trucked to Mount Isa for processing.
Multiple near-mine targets have been identified along strike and at depth, said to support Austral’s strategy to pursue low-risk, capital-efficient growth.
Austral’s new asset is said to have no major legacy or environmental liabilities and benefits from existing infrastructure that can be leveraged for future copper development.
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