Austral Resources Limited has announced the results of an optimisation study conducted by independent consultant ERM Australia Consultants Pty Limited on the Lady Annie Project.
The study includes the Lady Annie, Lady Brenda, Mount Clarke and Flying Horse deposits in the Lady Annie Project. According to Austral, the study confirmed an additional 94,000 tonnes of contained copper.
As part of the study, an additional lens adjacent to the existing Lady Colleen deposit was identified that could potentially offer a further 36,000 tonnes of total copper production to Austral’s mine life, pushing the total to an additional 130,000 tonnes of contained copper.
According to the company, the combination of Anthill’s existing production plus additional cutback oxide tonnes from Lady Colleen will increase annual production to over 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes of copper production expected over the next three to five years.
Following the study, the company will conduct geological drilling to upgrade the inferred mineral resources to indicated and further investigations to reflect more appropriate overall slope angles per area instead of the general slope angle used in all deposits.
Austral will also conduct further scheduling to optimise the best sequencing of the cutbacks and mine plan with a detailed review of the input parameters.
It noted that all optimised pits are on existing mining leases and are based on existing Joint Ore Reserve Committee-compliant (JORC) Mineral Resources Estimates that a competent individual has prepared.
Austral Managing Director and CEO Dan Jauncey said the study demonstrates the strength of the company’s copper production growth and underpins its plans for a sustainable future that delivers great outcomes for shareholders.
“These exciting outcomes allow the Austral team to focus on progressing the study, potentially increasing our total production by more than 100 per cent in the next 12 to 18 months,” he added.
Jauncey noted that the optimisation work supports a viable go-forward case and is a “very exciting” development for the company, its partners and shareholders.
