CuFe Confirms Iron-Enriched Target Areas at Camp Creek Project in the NT

Initial exploration at CuFe’s (ASX: CUF) wholly-owned tenement EL33835 within the Camp Creek iron ore project in the Northern Territory has confirmed iron enrichment across three target areas to the north, central-west and south.

A desktop review and early-stage reconnaissance field work across 88 square kilometres of acreage focused on several iron-enriched rock chip samples collected by previous explorers between 2013 and 2018, nine of which returned assays above 60% iron with the highest grade being 68.78%.

CuFe has since collected a further 15 samples from one of the targets to assist with geological interpretation that returned assays exceeding 60% iron, including a maximum grade of 67.91%, with low levels of deleterious elements.

High-Grade Potential

Executive director Mark Hancock said the early-stage results support the prospectivity of EL33835 and highlight its potential to host high-grade iron mineralisation.

“The proximity of the project to Darwin port and our Yarram iron ore resource makes it an attractive location for a direct shipping ore operation, so we look forward to getting back on the ground soon to grow our understanding of the region and prepare for drilling,” he said.

Yarram hosts the Kraken and Captain Morgan deposits, which have a combined inferred mineral resource of 12.7 million tonnes grading 55.4% iron.

Mr Hancock said the company would advance exploration at Camp Creek through further mapping and sampling across remaining target areas to guide future drilling.

Orlando Scoping Study

An open pit scoping study of CuFe’s 55%-owned Orlando copper-gold project in the Northern Territory has highlighted a $355 million net present value (on a 100% ownership basis), a 59% internal rate and 23-month payback period, improving to $462m NPV when July current spot prices are used.

The study assumes a standalone development that includes construction of a new processing plant, with an estimated $82m in plant purchase and installation costs comprising the majority of the $136m pre-production capex.

Capital reduction opportunities include the potential of sharing plant capex with Tennant Creek alliance partners Emmerson Resources (ASX: ERM) and Tennant Minerals (ASX: TMS) as their projects progress, as well as opting for secondhand plant and equipment over new.

Resource Increase

The scoping study included a 14% increase from 42% to 56% in Orlando’s indicated resource, following an upgrade from the inferred classification, with the total resource now 5.95Mt grading 1.16% copper and 1.50g/t gold based on a 1g/t gold equivalent.

“It is pleasing to increase the confidence in a portion of our resource at Orlando and to be able to reflect this update into our scoping study,” Mr Hancock said.

“As this project has been explored and mined over several decades, we continue to gain more confidence as we review and rationalise the wealth of data across multiple locations.”

Based on the robust results of the scoping study, Mr Hancock said the board had endorsed proceeding to an open pit feasibility study.

Historical Project

The historical Orlando cutback is part of the wider Orlando / Gecko project operated by CuFe on behalf of joint venture partners Cufe Tennant Creek (55%) and Gecko Mining (45%).

Orlando was previously an open pit and underground development and Gecko was underground only before both operations ceased against weak commodity prices; however, rising prices have presented CuFe with an opportunity to restart operations and extract the remaining copper-gold ore utilising a new plant.

“The Orlando open pit represents around 33% of our overall resource at Tennant Creek and, if this development absorbs the whole cost of a new plant, it means any additional tonnes will be able to leverage off the existence of that plant and possibly extend the plant’s life,” Mr Hancock said.

“We also have a number of exploration targets to drill in the region and the potential to integrate tonnes from our Tennant Creek Alliance partners as their own projects mature.”