Study sparks renewed hope for Mt Lyell mine

THE numbers are stacking up for the potential new owners of the historic Mt Lyell copper mine in Tasmania’s West to seal the deal and bring it back to life.

The New Century Resources board on Tuesday released the pre-feasibility study results which it said showed “highly attractive economics through the … development of a low-cost, long-life copper and gold operation.”

“Our project team is now progressing the Mt Lyell Feasibility Study, which will inform our decision on exercising the option to take ownership of the asset later in 2023,” New Century Resources CEO Robert Cooper said.

The Mt Lyell copper mine, in Queenstown, has been in care and maintenance since 2014 following the deaths of three miners.

The mine’s closure put 300 miners out of work.

It was offered for sale by

Copper Mines of Tasmania’s parent company Indian miner Vendata in 2020.

Last year, New Century Resources entered a new option deal which gave it two years to study the acquisition of the mine.

The pre-feasibility study estimated a pre-production capital investment of $279m would be needed to take full ownership and restart production.

“We are pleased to release this PFS for the Mt Lyell Copper Mine restart project, which provides a strong validation for adding this key growth opportunity to our portfolio,” Mr Cooper said.

“The study clearly demonstrates that Mt Lyell is one of the largest and most attractive near-term copper projects in Australia, with … a resource size that allows significant scale and mine life.

“Leveraging the extensive existing infrastructure both on and off site, Mt Lyell has an attractive capital efficiency and a low-risk development profile.”

The company said the mine had an initial 25-year life and an overall resource base greater than a million tonnes of copper and almost a million ounces of gold.

“This project is transformational … and represents a material long-term source of low-carbon copper to support the global transition to renewable energy and contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy.”