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OPERATIONAL REVIEW
DIGGeRs & DeALeRs PReVIeW MACA.NET.AU

DeGrussa base ensures

high-grade growth

s the company heads towards its value proposition,” he told Paydirt. Motheo, in Botswana, could be Sandfire’s
Abright new future of international It is worth reflecting on just how most valuable asset for decades
copper production, Sandfire Resources “lifechanging” DeGrussa has been for
Ltd managing director Karl Simich has Sandfire and its managing director. VMS deposit continued to deliver over
taken time to reflect on the irony that the “Fifteen years ago we were a 4c compa- the subsequent decade, being bolstered
journey may never have happened if the ny and 13 years ago we made the discov- by the development of the equally high-
company’s foundation asset had followed ery which changed our lives,” Simich said. grade Monty deposit (reserve: 600,000t @
up on its initial success. “Now, as a result of the DeGrussa discov- 8.7% and 1.4 g/t for 56,000t copper and
The last six months has been a momen- ery and development, we have grown into 29,000oz gold) in 2019. In total, more than
tous period for Sandfire, with the company a globalised business, with shareholders, 600,000t copper and 300,000oz gold will
having closed on its deal to acquire the bankers and government partners. We have been produced when the mine is
MATSA copper complex in Spain and ad- can operate on a global basis, that is a real closed later this year, however the seeds
vanced development of its Motheo copper skill.” of Sandfire’s transformation from parochial
project in Botswana. At the same time, its DeGrussa will go down in West Australi- WA company to globalised miner were
cornerstone DeGrussa mine in Western an mining folklore when copper production sown in those early years.
Australia is nearing its end, with mining ex- wraps up this year. Discovered in 2009 VMS deposits tend to be discreet, mak-
pected to cease in the September quarter. almost by accident alongside the Great ing them notoriously difficult to find, even
For Simich, the MATSA acquisition is set Northern Highway near Meekatharra, De- when companies know they are in a VMS
to have as dramatic effect on the company Grussa’s high-grade copper made it an camp. As DeGrussa headed towards ex-
as DeGrussa once did. instant standout. haustion, Sandfire’s investment in finding
“The discovery of DeGrussa and the The company brought the project into additional mineralisation in the district was
acquisition of MATSA are the biggest production within three years, producing becoming increasingly risky.
lifechanging events for the company, al- a remarkable 26% copper direct shipping “Five years ago, the biggest chance
though Botswana may turn into the best ore for the first 18 months. The high-grade was optimising what we had by making

Page 50 JULY 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT