Horseshoe Metals to Accelerate Copper-Gold Project Development After Key DSO Approval

Horseshoe Metals (ASX: HOR) is planning to fast-track development at its Horseshoe Lights copper-gold project (HSL) in Western Australia after receiving a key direct shipping ore (DSO) mining approval from the state government.

The company now plans to mobilise operations personnel to site in early July with a DSO start-up planned to kick off as soon as possible to provide potential for significant early cash flow this year from sales of existing high-grade copper stockpiles.

In conjunction with DSO start-up, Horseshoe Metals plans to step up exploration and drilling campaigns later in this quarter.

Critical Value Catalyst

Executive director Kate Stoney said the company is in advanced discussions with potential domestic and international copper concentrate offtake partners at a time of rising copper prices and demand for high-grade copper concentrates.

“Securing this approval is a critical value catalyst for Horseshoe and means we can capitalise on the favourable copper price by generating early revenue in the very near term,” Ms Stoney said.

“It marks the first step in bringing the HSL project back into production with DSO operations that will be followed by small- and large-scale oxide heap/vat leach and cementation.”

Underdeveloped and Underexplored

Ms Stoney said Horseshoe Metals believes the historic HSL is still vastly underdeveloped and underexplored, estimating the project contains an in-situ resource of 128,000 tonnes of copper metal at 1.0% and 36,000 ounces of gold.

Located approximately 60 kilometres west of the DeGrussa copper mine owned by Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR), HSL has past production of around 316,000oz of gold and 55,000t of copper metal from two phases of mining.

“Given the strengthening copper price, we plan to update our last scoping study based on an optimised pit shell that will encompass part of the 134,000t of contained copper at HSL,” Ms Stoney said.

“We will also undertake some additional drilling this quarter to test new areas of interest, which we are confident will define more ounces.”