Metals Acquisition Limited ARBN 671 963 198 a private limited company incorporated under the laws of Jersey, Channel Islands (“MAC” or the “Company”) is pleased to release its Resource and Reserve Statement (as at 31 August 2023) (“R+R”) and 3 Year Production Guidance for the CSA Copper Mine in NSW.

In accordance with Item 1300 of Regulation S-K (17 CFR Part 229) (“S-K 1300”), all Mineral Resources are reported exclusive of Mineral Reserves.

Resource and Reserve Statement

Highlights from the R+R include:

• 67% increase in mine life to 11-years (end of 2034) based on Mineral Reserves only, compared to the 6-year mine life in the 2022 Resources and Reserves Statement
• 64% increase in contained copper (“Cu”) after replacement of depletion to 0.5Mt in Mineral Reserves (Refer Table 3 for breakdown) at an average grade of 3.3% Cu
• Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources increased to 229 ktonnes of Cu from zero in the prior (Refer Table 2 for breakdown) at an average grade of 4.9% Cu
• An additional 184 ktonnes of Cu in the Inferred Mineral Resources, an approximate 5% reduction on the prior year as Inferred material was promoted to Measured and Indicated Categories
• 83% increase in contained Cu after replacement of depletion in the Measured and Indicated Resources categories
• 2023 Mineral Reserve only extends 95m vertically below the current decline position
• Above increases have come after only ten months of ownership and based on data from two and a half months post-closing of the acquisition with the effective date for the R+R being 31 August 2023
• All deposits (other than QTSSU-A (feasibility study), are open in at least one direction and drilling is continuing to further increase the R+R, subject to exploration success and economic factors

The effective date for the R+R is 31 August 2023 and as such, any new information received after that time has not been incorporated into the R+R at this stage.

Work is continuing on updating the mine plans as new information is received and importantly following on from the completion of MAC’s dual listing on the ASX and public offer that raised A$325 million of equity the Company is pushing forward with its growth capital spending to further optimise the mine plan.

MAC CEO, Mick McMullen commented “Whilst this Resource and Reserve Statement is a snapshot in time based on information available back in August 2023, it does validate our belief that the CSA Copper Mine can be a long-life asset. Importantly, despite the near doubling of the Mineral Reserves and a 67% increase in the mine life, we still have 4.7Mt @ 4.9% Cu (230Kt Cu) in the Measured and Indicated Category and 3.3Mt @ 5.5% Cu (180Kt Cu) in the Inferred Category that are not included in the Mineral Reserves and work is underway to convert these to our Mineral Reserve estimates in the future.

We have always believed that the CSA Copper Mine would have a long future and this Resource and Reserve Statement upgrade confirms this and also provides us with the underlying Mineral Resource base from which to put long term plans in place that simply hasn’t been possible for the last generation when the mine has always had a 5 to 6-year reserve mine life ahead of it. There has perhaps been a view by some observers that the CSA Copper Mine has a relatively short mine life, with today’s Resource and Reserve Statement announcement we can dispel that view and now focus on mining more Copper faster and at lower costs. We are but ten months into our ownership of the mine and it has a lot of potential to be uncovered still.”

This three-year production guidance is based primarily on Mineral Reserves but also on measured and indicated Mineral Resources (as at 31 August 2023) and, given that all the deposits are open and a large drill program is underway, MAC considers it likely that there will be changes over the relevant period as the Company’s overall plan to continue operational and production improvement continues to develop.

The 42% and 64% increase in contained Cu after replacement of depletion for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves respectively in the R+R has come after ten months of ownership and based on data from two and a half months post-closing of the acquisition.

The CSA Copper Mine has been producing for almost 60 years with very limited exploration away from the known deposits and there is potential to further optimise this production plan.

As discussed below, exploration in the top 850m of the deposit is just starting and initial results highlight strong potential to open additional mining fronts.

Overall grade has reduced from 5.3% Cu in the 2022 R+R to 4.9% in the 2023 R+R which is predominately a result of the inclusion of 2.2Mt of material between the new cut-off grade of 1.5% Cu and the previous cut-off grade of 2.5% Cu. In terms of contained Cu this material had a relatively small impact to the overall change, with the larger changes coming from the inclusion of new drilling and level mapping data.

As evidenced by the recent drill results released by the Company,1 including 19.2m @ 10.4% Cu in UDD23025 and 16m @ 10.5% Cu in UDD23024 these deposits are characterised by high grade lodes that have a long vertical extent that project well past the 2023 R+R.

In addition, whilst the mine is currently a producer of high quality Cu concentrates, it did start life as a high grade zinc (“Zn”) mine. As seen in the recently released QSD060 result of 4.3m @ 14.2% Zn, 3.9% Pb and 0.8% Cu the shallower portions of the deposits do host significant Zn mineralisation that is yet to be modelled.

The current R+R starts at a depth of 850m below surface (except for the small QTSS Upper-A deposit) as the data for this area has not historically been in the digital database. A large amount of historical data is available for these shallower portions of the mine and approximately 70% of this has now been digitized. None of this information has been included in the 2023 R+R. Drilling is underway to verify the presence of the mineralisation included in this historical dataset, with the first hole intercepting Zn and Cu massive sulphides as predicted by the historical data at a depth below surface of approximately 330m.

This mineralisation is vertically extensive and occurs adjacent to existing mine development with the interval in EWDD24005 located 30m from existing development as seen in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the core from the most recent drilling in this area that was targeted at the indicated position of this mineralisation based on the historical data.

Ore Reserves were estimated at a Cu price of US$8,279/t Cu, which compares to a spot price of US$9,905/t Cu as at 20 April 2024.

Mineral Reserve grade at 3.3% Cu is down from 4% Cu in the prior year which is a reflection of the lower cost base that the mine is now operating under. This is as a result of reduced mine site operating costs and offsite charges. Cut-off grade is variable based on the ability to mine at higher rates once the Return Air Rise (“RAR”) are complete and ranges from 2.2% Cu near term to 1.65% Cu for the longer term.

The mine plan strategy is somewhat determined by the requirement for additional RAR ventilation at the bottom of QTSN, during which time the mine plan mines the higher grade core. Once the RAR system is in place then the mine plan reverts to a more bulk tonnage model given the large excess processing plant capacity at the mine. At elevated Cu prices the goal is to maximise Cu production where possible and to defer any lower grade material to the back end of the mine plan.

Figure 3 illustrates the changes in the Mineral Reserves from the prior year.

Figure 3 – CSA Copper Mine Contained Cu in Reserve Changes 2022 to 2023

Spatially, the location of the 2023 Mineral Reserve compared to the 2022 Mineral Reserve is shown in Figure 4 below. The bulk of the increases have been in QTSN where the deposit has been increasing in strike length and QTSC where drilling has expanded the lateral and vertical extend of the deposit.

All deposits are open and as seen in Figures 5 and 6 below the Mineral Reserves terminate at RL’s based on drill density with the deposits extending significantly past the 2023 Mineral Reserves.

Figure 4 - Location of the 2023 Mineral Reserve compared to the 2022 Mineral Reserve

The bulk of the Mineral Reserves (84% of total contained Cu) are from the QTSN and QTSC deposits and Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the location of the Mineral Reserves compared to the various resource classifications.

Figure 5 - Location of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resource Classification - QTSN

Mineral Reserves in QTSN have been extended to the 8300mRL, with current stoping active on the 8430m RL and the decline at the 8395mRL. As such, the current 11 year mine life is only mining a further 95m vertically below the bottom of the decline position at the end of March 2024.

Figure 6- Location of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resource Classification – QTSC

The material R+R increase from the R+R at the time of purchase will now enable the Company to optimise mining rates with a view to producing more Cu sooner given the potential for even longer mine life subject to converting the non Mineral Reserve material. This will also be instrumental in right sizing the capital structure of the Company.

Life of Mine (“LOM”) Plan

The LOM plan is based on Mineral Reserves only and on data from the end of August 2023. Several of the deposits being mined or planned to be mined still contain elevated levels of Inferred Resources that are not included in the LOM under both the JORC and S-K 1300 Codes.

JORC

MAC is subject to the reporting requirements of both the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (US) and applicable Australian securities laws (including the ASX Listing Rules), and as a result, has separately reported its Mineral Reserves (referred to as ore reserves for the purpose of the Australasian Joint Ore Reserve Committee Code, 2012 edition (JORC)) and Mineral Resources according to the standards applicable to those requirements. U.S. reporting requirements are governed by S-K 1300, as issued by the SEC. Australian reporting requirements are governed by JORC. Both sets of reporting standards have similar goals in terms of conveying an appropriate level of consistency and confidence in the disclosures being reported, but the standards embody slightly different approaches and definitions. All disclosure of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves in this report are reported in accordance with S-K 1300. For JORC and ASX Listing Rule compliant disclosure of mineral reserves (Ore Reserves for the purpose of JORC) and mineral resources, please see the Company’s separate release to be released on ASX on 23 April 2024. In order to comply with SEC requirements the Company expects to lodge an S-K 1300 Technical Report with the SEC in the near term.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the Company’s updated Reserve and Resource statement on Monday, April 22, 2024 at 7:00 pm (New York time) / Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 9:00 am (Sydney time).

Details for the conference call and webcast are included below.

Webcast
Participants can access the webcast at the following link https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/950238182

Conference Call
Participants can dial into the live call by dialling 800-274-8461 or +1-203-518-9783 and providing the conference ID ‘METALS’.

Replay
The conference call will be available for playback until July 22, 2024 and can be accessed by dialling 1-888-567-0047 or +1-402-220-6953 or visiting the webcast link https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/950238182.

This announcement is authorised for release by the Board of Directors.

QUALIFIED PERSON STATEMENTS

Mineral Resources

The information in this announcement that relates to the Company’s Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Mike Job, a Qualified Person for the purpose of S-K 1300, who is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Job is employed by Cube Consulting Pty Ltd. Mr Job . Mr Job consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Mineral Reserves

The information in this announcement that relates to the Company’s Mineral Reserves is based on information compiled by Jan Coetzee, a Qualified Person for the purpose of S-K 1300, who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Jan Coetzee is employed by Metals Acquisition Corp. (Australia) Pty Ltd (being a wholly owned subsidiary of Metals Acquisition Limited). Mr Coetzee consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

Source:businesswire.com

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