Local and Property Geology
The CSA mineralisation occurs in five known systems: Eastern, Western, QTS North (QTSN), QTS Central (QTSC) and QTS South (QTSS). The mineralisation is structurally controlled, associated with fault/shear zones and arranged in an en-echelon pattern. The Cobar Fault and the Chesney Fault are the major controlling faults at the CSA mine. The mineralised systems occur at the intersections of two sets of steeply dipping (~85°) structures, a dominant north-northeast (“NNE”) trending set (S1) and a NNW trending set (S2). These two structural trends formed due to east-west compression leading to a complex fault/shear system with dilation zones (S3) at intersections. The NNE shears can be up to 100m wide and contain parallel quartz veining of variable intensity.

Within the five mineralised systems, multiple lenses of mineralisation occur; lenses typically are 5-30m wide, have short (1,000m). The lenses are interpreted by CMPL as discrete parallel to sub-parallel stacked lenses.

The host rock for the mineralisation, the CSA Siltstone, contains thinly bedded siltstones and mudstones with fine to medium grained sandstones. Bedding strikes north-northwest and dips steeply west. Cleavage trends north and dips steeply east.

QTSN is developed from 600m below surface and is the main mineralised system at CSA, currently containing around 65% of the total copper metal in the estimated Mineral Resource and accounting for approxim ........

Ore is produced principally from two steeply dipping underground mineralised systems, QTS North (“QTSN”) and QTS Central (“QTSC”). The CSA mine uses mechanised long-hole open stoping (“LHOS”) with cemented paste fill (“CPF”) as the preferred mining method. A modified Avoca stoping method has been used successfully in the narrower lenses (principally QTSC).

Copper production at the CSA mine is mine-constrained. MAC is targeting future ore production of approximately 1.2Mtpa.

CSA extracts approximately 1.1-1.3Mtpa of copper ore each year from five en-echelon steeply dipping orebodies, with current mining focused on the QTSN, QTSC and Western systems, with QTSN supplying the bulk of the ore and representing 78% of current Mineral Reserves. Silver mineralisation accompanies the copper and contributes approximately 2% to revenue.

In QTSN, sub-level intervals are 30m apart above 8580mRL, approximately 1,620m below surface (“mbs”). Below 8580mRL, the sub-level interval was increased to 40m, leading to some negative impacts with increased ground failures and higher levels of overbreak and stope dilution; sub-level intervals have more recently been reduced to 35m. Stope dimensions are typically 20m long by 25m wide. Mining is non-entry and ground support is employed to control dilution and overbreak prior to the placement of backfill and to support extraction development.

A modified Avoca stoping sequence method is used in narrower orebodie ........

- subscription is required.

- subscription is required.

- subscription is required.