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Australia
Mount Lyell Project

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 Location:
1.5 km N from Queenstown, Tasmania, Australia

  Project Contacts:
Level 4 360 Collins Street
Melbourne
Victoria, Australia
3000
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Overview

StagePre-Feasibility
Mine TypeUnderground
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Sub-level caving
Production Start...
Mine Life25 years (as of Jan 1, 2023)
The Mt Lyell deposits were mined almost continuously since the 1890s until entering care and maintenance in July 2014. This extensive operating history provides a strong design basis for recommencement of underground operations and the construction of a new processing plant.

The Tasmanian Government has made available a A$25 million package of non-cash assistance, in the form of royalty and payroll tax relief contingent upon a mine restart. This benefit has been included in financial modelling of the project and further reinforces the strong support from government for the restart of the Mt Lyell Copper Mine.


Owners

Source: p. 116
CompanyInterestOwnership
Vedanta Resources plc. 65.2 % Indirect
Copper Mines of Tasmania Pty Ltd. (operator) 100 % Direct
New Century executed an Option Agreement with Monte Cello B.V. (MCBV), a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited (Vedanta) for the acquisition of Copper Mines of Tasmania Pty Ltd (CMT), owner of the Mt Lyell Copper Mine (Mt Lyell) in Tasmania.

The Option Agreement followed the Group’s announcement on 27 October 2021 that it had entered into a binding term sheet to acquire CMT from MCBV following a two-year period to evaluate the potential for restart of operations at Mt Lyell. The option period commenced on 5 November 2021. Should the option to acquire be exercised, the acquisition consideration will be by way of a capped royalty paid over time from the operations.

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Volcanic hosted


Summary:

The regional and local geology of the Project area is well understood having a long exploration and development history. Stratigraphically the oldest rocks are the Cambrian aged sequence containing locally the Tyndall Group, Central Volcanic Complex, Yolande River Sequence and andesitic volcanics and intrusives. These are overlain by the late Cambrian-Ordovician aged Owen group and Silurian aged Eldon Group. Quaternary/Tertiary deposits, including glacials, complete the regional geological sequence.

Prince Lyell -Deeps/North Flank/D Panel/Royal Tharsis
The footwall of the mineralisation at the Prince Lyell Deeps is defined by the Great Lyell Fault, which juxtaposes the Cambrian volcanic host rocks against a later Cambro-Ordivician sedimentary sequence. The Great Lyell Fault truncates the mineralisation at depth.

The mineralisation consists of disseminated to veinlet pyrite-chalcopyrite hosted within strongly altered and schistose volcanic rocks. Alteration consists of a chlorite-pyrite+/-magnetite core surrounded by a muscovite pyrite envelope. The North Flank/D Panel and Royal Tharsis mineralisation and alteration is similar to the Prince Lyell, however the former has a stronger stratigraphic control.

Dimensions:
Prince Lyell North Flank: the resource has dimensions of 490 m in height, 1,500 to 2,090 mRL (2,000 mRL represents sea level and the surface is approximately 420 m above sea level). The strike length of the resource is up ........


Mining Methods

  • Sub-level caving


Summary:

The initial mine development is proposed to access the upper levels of the Prince Lyell D Panel and will provide for access drives across to the Western Tharsis deposit from the existing Prince Lyell decline. Production is planned to commence within the first year of mining recommencing.

The mine design parameters for the Mt Lyell project are generally based on the parameters previously used to mine the Prince Lyell deposit, being SLC. The Copper Chert mine design parameters have been based on industry best practice, as this is currently planned to be a Longhole Open Stoping method of mining. Equipment selection and planned operational production rates have been considered during the process.

The proposed mining method for Prince Lyell and the majority of Western Tharsis is SLC. The mining method for upper Western Tharsis will be reviewed in the FS to see if a form of open stoping is both more suitable and provides improved project economics.

SLC is an underground bulk mining method commonly applied to large low-grade homogeneous deposits with large vertical extents. SLC is a mass mining method based upon the utilisation of gravity flow of blasted ore and caved waste rock. The method functions on the principle that ore is fragmented by blasting, while the overlying host rock fractures and caves under the action of mine-induced stresses and gravity. The caved waste from the overlying rock mass fills the void created by ore extraction.


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

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Projected Production:

CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Copper Metal in concentrate M lbs 601,224
Copper Concentrate kt 2,056
Gold Metal in concentrate koz  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required

* According to 2023 study.

Reserves at June 30, 2022:
The Ore Reserve estimate for the sub-level cave (SLC) is based on a cut-off grade of 0.75% Cu.

The Mineral Resources estimate on a cut-off grade from 0.2% to 0.8% Cu.

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Probable 23.9 Mt Copper 1.03 % 246 kt
Probable 23.9 Mt Gold 0.26 g/t 198 koz
Probable 23.9 Mt Copper Equivalent 1.14 %
Total Resource 140.3 Mt Copper 0.84 % 1,176 kt
Total Resource 140.3 Mt Gold 0.22 g/t 955 koz
Total Resource 140.3 Mt Copper Equivalent 0.93 %

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Credits (by-product) Copper USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Total cash costs Copper USD  ......  Subscription required *†
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Copper USD  ......  Subscription required *†
Pre-tax break-even price Copper USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price Copper USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price Gold USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
* According to 2023 study / presentation.
† Net of By-Product.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2023 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Pre-Production capital costs $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Sustaining CapEx $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Gross revenue (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 7% $M AUD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
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Pipelines and Water Supply
Source: Subscription required

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Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of January 23, 2023:
HME TypeModelQuantityLeased or
Contractor
Dozer (crawler) ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 2, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 2, 2023
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Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Corporate Presentation 2023
Pre-Feasibility Study Report 2023
Press Release 2023
Annual Report 2022
Corporate Presentation 2022
Integrated Report 2022
Press Release 2022
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2019
Annual Report 2018
Other 2017
Annual Report 2015
Annual Report 2014
Annual Report 2013
Annual Report 2013
Annual Review 2013
Annual Report 2012
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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