Overview

Mine Type	Underground
Status	Care and Maintenance
Commodities	Copper
Mining Method	Open stoping
Backfill type	...
Production Start	...
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	The Nifty Copper Project is in a state of readiness so that at the completion of the finance process, there is an effective and efficient transition from care and maintenance to full construction and then commissioning to production. The re-start opportunity for Nifty: – The oxide open pit was stopped prematurely to access the underground sulphide ore to produce a low impurity copper concentrate to feed Aditya Birla Minerals India-based smelters. – Cyprium will restart the open pit oxide mine and re-treat the existing heap leach pads in Phase 1 of the Nifty Copper Project restart. – Phase 2 will continue the open pit into the sulphide portion of the orebody for a +20 year mine life.

Deposit type

• Sediment-hosted

Summary:

The Nifty copper deposit is a sediment hosted copper deposit hosted within the Neoproterozoic sub greenschist facies of the Paterson Orogen, immediately to the east of the Archaean Pilbara Craton.

Copper mineralisation occurred/s as both supergene oxide, sulphide, and transitional mineralisation to a depth of approximately 300m and as stratabound hypogene sulphides hosted by carbonaceous and dolomitic shales, principally within the Nifty carbonate member, to a depth of approximately 600m. The mineralisation is a structurally controlled, chalcopyrite-quartz-dolomite replacement of carbonaceous and dolomitic shale within a folded sequence. The copper mineralisation is largely confined to the northern limb and keel of a significant syncline.

Weathering has altered the mineralisation to a depth of about 200m and therefore three main styles of copper mineralisation occur at Nifty:
1. Oxide dominated mineralisation consisting of malachite, azurite, cuprite, and native copper which extends to depths of up to 100m below the surface.
2. Supergene secondary sulphide mineralisation occurs overlying the base of oxidation. This style of mineralisation is dominated by chalcocite and occurs typically between 100m and 200m below the surface.
3. Primary sulphides occur in quartz-dolomite altered carbonates and shales. The primary copper mineral is chalcopyrite with minor covellite and bornite. Pyrite is a common gangue mineral but only occurs with chalcopyrite on the margins of the deposit. The primary sulphide mineralisation is located mainly in the keel of the syncline.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

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Production

Commodity	Units	2020	2019	2018	2017
Copper	t	....	16,913	16,774	23,264

Operational metrics

Metrics	2020	2019	2018	2017
Ore tonnes mined	....	1,321,032 t	1,361,019 t	1,390,007 t
Tonnes processed	....	1,254,879 t	1,361,371 t	1,397,534 t
Annual processing capacity	....	2.5 Mt	2.5 Mt	2.5 Mt

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................		Jan 16, 2024
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