Celsius (ASX:CLA) hits a high at MCB Copper-Gold project
October 19, 2022Celsius Resources has hit 65 meters of high-grade shallow copper and gold, continuing a run of recent drilling success at its flagship MCB copper-gold project, owned by its Philippine subsidiary Makilala Mining Company.
A move to shallower exploration has delivered other shallow, high-grade copper assay results that extend the envelope of the near-surface mineralisation, complementing work to validate historical drilling completed last year.
The Company said results from MCB-041 are particularly significant as they have confirmed near surface higher-grade copper mineralisation envelope to extend further to the east.
“Our drilling strategy was modified in 2022 to shift the focus from deep targets to the recently identified near surface higher-grade targets, and it is starting to significantly pay off with better-than-expected results,” Country Operations Director Peter Hume said.
“We had previously interpreted that the high-grade targets were mostly at depth, but an analysis of the recent results, particularly from MCB-036*, which intersected 59m @ 1.29% copper and 0.27g/t gold, MCB- 037** which intersected 28.95m @ 1.12% copper and 0.06g/t gold, and now MCB-041, have confirmed the presence of a more extensive shallow copper mineralisation than previously understood.”
“We expect these combined results will make a solid positive enhancement to the feasibility study, which will commence in early 2023.”
Price Action
The Companys ASX-listed shares are 1.3c at Market Open.
Highlights
o 10.5m @ 0.69% copper and 0.07g/t gold from 19.5m
o 65m @ 1.73% copper and 0.37g/t gold from 66m
About MCB Copper-Gold Project
The MCB Copper-Gold Project (MCB) is located in the Cordillera Administrative Region in the Philippines, approximately 320km north of Manila (Figure 3). It is the flagship project within the Makilala portfolio which also contains other key prospects in the pipeline for permit renewal/extension.
A maiden JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate was declared for the MCB Project in January 2021, comprising 313.8 million tonnes @ 0.48% copper and 0.15 g/t gold for 1.5 million tonnes of contained copper and 1.47 million ounces of gold, of which 290.3 million tonnes @ 0.48% copper and 0.15 g/t gold is classified as Indicated and 23.5 million tonnes @ 0.48% copper and 0.10 g/t gold is classified as Inferred.
A Scoping Study for the MCB Project was announced by CLA on 1 December 2021, which identified the potential for developing a copper-gold operation with a 25-year mine life. The Scoping Study was based on an underground mining operation and processing facility to produce a saleable copper-gold concentrate.
Highlights from the Scoping Study include a Post-tax NPV (8%) of US$464m and IRR of 35%, assuming a copper price of US$4.00/lb and gold price of US$1,695/oz. Initial capital expenditure is estimated to be US$253m with a payback period of approximately 2.7 years. The designed mine production is matched to a 2.28Mtpa processing plant which will treat ore with an estimated average grade of 1.14% copper and 0.54g/t gold for the first 10 years of planned production with C1 cash costs at just US$0.73/lb copper, net gold credits.
Please note the following valuable information before using this website.
Independent Research
Market Open Australia is intended to be used only for educational and informative purposes, and any information on this website should not be taken as investment advice or guidance. It is important to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions, which should be based on your own investment needs and personal circumstances. Any investment decisions based on information contained on this website should be taken in line with independent financial advice from a qualified professional or should be independently researched and verified.
