Page 64 - pd297-Sept21-mag-web

neW soUth WALes sPotLIGht

Peel backs its copper potential

he way forward has never been clearer Placing primary focus on a single com- fantastic, and the community have good
Tfor Peel Mining Ltd with recent results modity will also have benefits from a de- support and I think we’re a good neigh-
from its Wirlong prospect reinforcing the velopment perspective. bour, but it is very dependent on where
“copper first” strategy it has adopted for its “It is a simpler strategy because it re- you are in the State,” Tyson said of com-
South Cobar project. quires a simpler mill, just a single-stream munity feelings towards mining. “Peel is in
Peel has achieved notable explora- float for a copper concentrate which will a known district in Cobar and it is pastoral
tion success across several commodities mean lower capital intensity,” Tyson said. country so mining can often offer an eco-
over a decade in the Cobar region of New The simple flowsheet approach has also nomic lifeblood during hard times.”
South Wales but with investors warming to been supported by recent test results. In While Sydney was in lockdown through
copper’s looming supply/demand imbal- July, metallurgical test work returned re- July, regional centres such as Cobar were
ance the company has made the decision coveries of 96.9% copper to a 27.1% cop- still operating.
to focus on its red metal assets. per concentrate from Wirlong. Having al-
That it has been able to once again de- ready witnessed success from ore sorting
liver with the drill bit has only reinforced the techniques on Mallee Bull and Southern
sense of that strategy. Nights ore, Peel will now send samples to
Drilling during the June quarter returned TOMRA for similar test work.
hits of 17m @ 4% copper, 28m @ 3.62%, The processing work and drilling results
24.4m @ 3.68%, 10m @ 4.04% and 14m will feed into a concept study for South
@ 3.11% from resource definition drilling at Cobar, set for release in the first quarter
Wirlong. of 2022. Ahead of that, the company will
Peel managing director Rob Tyson told release a maiden resource for Wirlong and
Paydirt he had been particularly pleased an updated statement for Mallee Bull.
by the results given the drilling campaign “We are aiming for October for the
came after a change in approach. first Wirlong resource as we are 85% of
“When you start resource definition the way through the programme,” Tyson
work based on a new geology/structural said. “We are hoping to get a reasonable
model – we rotated the rigs from east-west amount into indicated, not less than 50%,
to south-west – it is always going to be a bit which is good for a maiden resource. We
of a nervous moment because it is based will then update Mallee Bull by December
off structure and geophysical data. You do and have the scoping [concept] study out
begin to second guess yourself,” Tyson early in 2022.”
admitted. “But it is all coming together. We Tyson said feedback on the “copper
have got some structural complexity but first” strategy had been very positive but
there are wonderful grades and so far, so he expects the real market kick to come
good, the model is holding up.” when some economics can be reported.
The results from Wirlong were followed “Everyone knows the final investment
in early August by intercepts of 62m @ decision is coming but until we’ve drilled it
2.14% copper and 36m @ 3.55% copper out and put out a concept study it is hard
from the Mallee Bull prospect. to put out the opportunity we see in front
Together, Wirlong and Mallee Bull form of ourselves,” he said. “Once the scoping
the core of Peel’s “copper first” strategy study is complete, we can show people
with resource statements expected for what the capex is likely to be, the value of
both before the end of the year. the asset and how quick payback is.”
“When we discovered Mallee Bull in A scoping study is likely to draw the at-
2011-2012, people were talking then about tention of corporates who are increasingly
a copper deficit coming, they were right keen to find new copper assets. Tyson The quality of the Wirlong copper
but it has been 10 years in the making,” Ty- said there had been interest shown but in- prospect has in part driven Peel’s decision
son said. “Our Southern Nights zinc-lead sisted Peel was focused purely on defining to adopt a “copper-first” strategy in NSW
project is a cracking discovery in its own the best way forward for shareholders.
right with a lot of potential economic ben- “How do we do that? We get a concept “We’ve not been affected by the Sydney
efits but we look at copper first because study out and define a clear path to a final outbreak out in Cobar,” Tyson said. “It is
the market conditions have changed dra- investment decision,” he said. a good base of operations, and the work-
matically with the price going from $US6- The other side of the equation is the ap- force is NSW-based so we’ve been able
8,000/t to $US12-13,000/t. provals process. NSW has developed a to continue almost non-stop. Sometimes
“Obviously it is driven by the high-quality reputation for being a difficult jurisdiction drillers are importing operators from other
deposits which are taking shape and it is thanks to a fervent lock-the-gate move- states, so they’ve dropped the odd shift
an easier concept for the market to un- ment. The recent COVID outbreak has but nothing too dramatic.”
derstand. We are keen to exploit what is only complicated the industry’s concep- – Dominic Piper
considered to be a sustained change in tions about the State. Tyson dismissed
copper’s dynamics due to electrification, both concerns.
decarbonisation, etc.” “I like working in NSW, the geology is

Page 64 SePTeMBeR 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT