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 ab ........

The Carrapateena Block Cave Expansion Pre-Feasibility Study (the Pre-Feasibility Study) focused on the opportunity to realise further value from the Carrapateena copper-gold Mineral Resource. This executive summary focuses on the Pre-Feasibility Study for transitioning the sub-level cave to Block Cave 1 (BC1) and then later into Block Cave 2 (BC2).

Proposed Mine Expansion
The Pre-Feasibility Study demonstrates that the Carrapateena Block Cave Expansion can be constructed without impeding the operation of the sub-level cave, and without requiring major rework of the sublevel cave underground infrastructure, ensuring project delivery and return on the sub-level cave base case. The mine expansion and transition to BC1 would require adjusting the location of future underground infrastructure below Crusher Station 2, including a change in orientation of the decline, conveyor and ventilation, however, this is not due for installation until after 2022. The proposed access decline would be a common sub-level cave or block cave decline in 2022, switching to a dedicated block cave decline in 2023. This approach provides optionality to make the best decision for either continuing the sub-level cave or final investment decision in the Carrapateena Block Cave Expansion in 2023, based on performance of the sub-level cave and market conditions at that time.

Carrapateena Block Caves
The Pre-Feasibility Study recommends a transition from the sub-level ca ........

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