The Carrapateena Project is located within the highly prospective Olympic Dam copper-gold (Cu-Au) Province. This is a metallogenic belt along the eastern margin of the Gawler Craton in South Australia, which hosts the Prominent Hill Mine, Olympic Dam mine and the Moonta-Wallaroo historic mining district. The Craton comprises variably deformed and metamorphosed sedimentary, volcanic and plutonic rock, spread from the late Archean to Mesoproterozoic, and it has been subdivided into a series of domains – the Carrapateena deposit being part of the Olympic Domain. The age of the iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) mineralisation in the Gawler Craton is uncertain, though it is interpreted in the literature to be associated with Mesoproterozoic magmatism of the Hiltaba Suite and the Gawler Range Volcanics.

The Carrapateena copper-gold mineral deposit is hosted in a brecciated granite complex, with both bornite and chalcopyrite copper mineralisation present – the bornite being a distinct higher grade zone of mineralisation.

The vast majority of copper and gold mineralisation within the deposit is hosted by hematite-dominated breccias with moderate mineralisation occurring within hematite altered granite breccias (Eastern Cu domain). Sulphides are the primary copper-bearing minerals in the Carrapateena Breccia Complex. Copper and gold mineralisation is structurally and chemically controlled, with subsequent alteration destroying mineralising structures. The most a ........

The Carrapateena is an underground mine located in the highly prospective Gawler Craton in South Australia, approximately 160km north of Port Augusta. The Carrapateena operation produced first concentrate in December 2019 and currently plans tomine and process a 91Mt Ore Reserveby the sub-level caving method.

Mine acess provide by twin decline, one for access(Tjati Decline) and one for materials handling. The Tjati Decline provides access to each production level.

The total Ore Reserve estimate is made up of three separate mining areas of the same deposit:
-The sub-level cave (SLC) is being mined from the 4580 RL to the 4305 RL at a rate increasing from 4.25 Mtpa to 5 Mtpa.
-Block Cave 1 (BC1) extraction level is located on the 3700 RL.
-Block Cave 2 (BC2) is a mining block adjacent to BC1, to be mined after the depletion of BC1.

The mining method of the sub-level cave (SLC) is based on the 2017 Carrapateena Feasibility Study and further refinements since accessing the orebody. The mine is currently in production from its two uppermost level, and production from the orebody to date reflects expectations in terms of mining and milling recovery. If the decision to transition to a block cave mining method is made, the lowest three levels of the SLC will be mined at a declining shut-off value (to as low as $70/tonne on the bottom level 4230 RL), in order to improve overall mine economics. If the mine continues to be mined as an SL ........

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