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Murray Ward
True North Copper has cleared the path for a major, integrated open-pit operation at its Cloncurry copper project in Queensland after striking a strategic deal to buy out Renegade Exploration’s 22.5 per cent stake in the Carpentaria Joint Venture.
The company’s binding agreement to acquire the Carpentaria JV share also includes a 35 per cent interest in the key Mongoose tenement. Global miner Glencore, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Mount Isa Mines, remains the joint venture’s senior partner, with a 77.5 per cent and has a 40-day right of first refusal to match the deal.
If the resource giant stays on the sidelines, True North will move swiftly to update its resource estimates and roll the Mongoose data into its ongoing pre-feasibility studies.
The deal looks to be a masterstroke in project logic. Currently, True North’s Taipan deposit, which holds 5.21 million tonnes (Mt) grading 0.57 per cent copper and 0.13 grams per tonne(g/t) gold, sits right next to the Mongoose resource. By snapping up Renegade’s share of Mongoose with an inferred resource of 3.1Mt at 0.55 per cent copper and 0.07g/t gold the company can essentially erase the boundary line between the two deposits.
‘This strengthens our position in the Cloncurry district.’
True North managing director and chief executive officer Andrew Mooney
The company says the benefits are self-evident. Instead of two smaller, restricted operations, it can now eye a single, optimised “super pit” design that captures mineralisation previously trapped on the other side of the tenement boundary.
The consolidation should provide immediate upside for near-pit and down-dip resource growth potential, whilst also boosting production profiles, extending the mine life and improving the project’s economics.
The proposed acquisition, once settled, will give the company a hefty 121 square kilometres of highly prospective ground, which should have the company’s geos licking its lips.
Notably, the deal will also strengthen True North’s strategic partnership with Glencore at Cloncurry. That collaboration includes toll treatment and offtake agreements for copper concentrate, supporting True North’s near-term production and processing ambitions.
True North managing director and chief executive officer Andrew Mooney said: “By bringing Mongoose and Taipan together we are improving scale, grade and overall project optionality.”
The transaction is structured to keep initial cash outlays low, with a total value of $2.88 million. True North will pay just A$300,000 in cash, issue three million shares and transfer its 91 per cent interest in the company’s Prairie Creek gold tenement near Rockhampton to Renegade.
The deal also includes performance rights tied to future production or significant new copper discoveries within the joint venture area.
Next steps include completion of documentation and the conditions precedent. Once the paperwork is signed off, True North says it plans to hit the ground running by folding the newly acquired asset into a fresh combined resource estimate. The update will first pull in Renegade’s 2024 drilling before adding the company’s recent Taipan metallurgical holes, potentially setting the scene for a much bigger Cloncurry copper story.
It is a busy time for True North, currently managing a three-stage growth strategy. In addition to developing the near-term cash flow potential at Cloncurry, 280 kilometres to the northwest, the company is working to grow the high-grade Vero deposit, part of its Mt Oxide polymetallic project. The inventory currently sits at 15.03Mt grading 1.46 per cent copper and 10.58g/t silver alongside a cobalt resource of 9.15Mt grading 0.23 per cent. It also remains focused on hunting for the next big discovery across its regional targets.
This is a “boundary-busting” move by True North. By cleaning up the ownership at Cloncurry, they are looking to turn two separate assets into one much more formidable project. If Glencore gives the green light by passing up its first right of refusal, the company could be well on its way to fast-tracking its plans to become a significant copper producer in the heart of Queensland’s most famous mining corridor.
Punters are likely to be laser-focused on news of a successful outcome to True North’s bid to build a bigger project at Cloncurry, as well as keeping an eye out as the all-important pre-feasibility results start to roll in.
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