Copper Mountain encouraged by Cameron drill results
Copper Mountain Mining Corp. [CMMC-TSX] on Tuesday announced positive drill results from its Cameron Copper project in Australia.
The latest results are from 48 holes (7,936 metres), drilled on the C6, C1, and C2 targets at the Cameron project, which is situated 40 kilometres south of Copper Mountain’s Eva Copper Project in the Mount Isa region of Queensland.
The drill program encountered intercepts of high-grade mineralization, with long-low grade mineralized envelopes, with lateral continuity between intercepts of up to 1.0 kilometre.
Drilling highlights include 135 metres of 0.37% copper and 0.03% g/t gold (hole QMR025) in the C6 target.
“These results are very promising and validate these priority targets,” said Copper Mountain CEO Gil Clausen. “They indicate that there is potential for a larger mineralized system,” he said. The company plans to carry out further drilling that will include new undrilled targets with significant copper-gold anomalies in surface soil and rock samples.
“The current results confirm our belief that there is potential for discovery of copper resources,” Clausen said.
On October 8, 2021, Copper Mountain shares rose 0.7% or $0.02 cents to $3.04 on volume of 889,350. The shares are trading in a 52-week range of $5.07 and 97 cents.
Copper Mountain’s flagship asset is the 75%-owned Copper Mountain mine near the town of Princeton, British Columbia. The Vancouver-based company is working in a strategic alliance with Mitsubishi Materials Corp., who owns 25% of the mine.
Copper Mountain has previously announced a new integrated life of mine production plan for the Copper Mountain mine. The plan includes a modest expansion of its existing mill to 45,000 tonnes per day and the integration of production from the nearby New Ingerbelle property.
Although strong copper output of 51 million pounds in the first half of 2021 represents 54% of the updated annual production guidance, grades are expected to moderate in the second of the year due to mine sequencing
The company recently installed and began commissioning of a third ball mill at its Copper Mountain Mine, a move that completes the Ball Mill 3 Expansion project and will increase plant milling capacity to 45,000 tonnes per day, up from 40,000 tonnes.
With a mill expansion and integration of the New Ingerbelle, the Copper Mountain mine is expected to produce 139 million pounds of copper per year at a cash cost of US$1.19 per pound over the first 10 years of its 21-year mine life (based on reserves).
Copper Mountain also has the development-stage Eva Copper Project, an extensive 2,100 square kilometre, highly prospective land package in the Mount Isa area. Based on a 2020 feasibility study, Eva is expected to produce approximately 100 million pounds of copper equivalent annually on average over a 15-year mine life.