Faraday targets 18B-lb Arizona copper district 

Faraday Copper (TSX: FDY; US-OTC: CPPKF) expects confirmation drilling at BHP’s (NYSE, LSE, ASX: BHP) former San Manuel mine to support a combined Arizona resource containing more than 18 billion lb. of copper. The San Manuel acquisition is set to close this month, handing Faraday control of a past-producing copper mine, about 109 sq. km of prospective private land, a water-supply agreement and established infrastructure beside the former flagship Copper Creek next door. The assets lie about two hours by road southeast of Phoenix.  Faraday plans at least 23,000 metres of drilling at San Manual beginning in the fourth quarter before issuing a combined resource around mid-2027. “We think it will be north of 18 billion lb. of copper,” CEO Paul Harbidge told The Northern Miner on a call this week. “That’s going to be one of the largest undeveloped copper resources in the entire U.S.” The deal would turn Faraday from a single-project explorer into a district developer planning two open pits and two underground mines around shared infrastructure.  New drilling It also leaves Faraday with work to do. San Manuel’s remaining copper estimate is historical, the old drill core was discarded and the combined mine plan hasn’t been studied yet. Faraday now has to confirm the resource with new drilling before it can fold San Manuel into a current technical study. Faraday’s Toronto-listed shares have more than quadrupled over the past 12 months to close at $5.50 apiece on Aug. 11 as copper prices have surged. Shares have tested a range between $1.15 and $6.69 over the past 12 months. The company has a market capitalization of $1.6 billion (US$1.15 billion).  San Manuel started underground production in 1955 before adding open-pit and in-situ leaching. The operation processed about 800 million tonnes grading 0.66% copper and produced more than 4.5 million tonnes of the metal before low prices ended mining in 1999. BHP had rehabilitated the site by 2003. Faraday holds the historical drilling, assay and geological records, including information from about 440,000 metres of drilling. But BHP discarded the core, forcing Faraday to drill new holes before it can classify the old estimate under current disclosure standards. Copper Creek already holds 421.9 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.45% copper for 4.2 billion lb. of contained metal, according to a preliminary economic assessment issued in May 2023. Inferred resources add 83.6 million tonnes at 0.34% copper for 628 million contained pounds. Faraday completed 88 holes totalling 22,510 metres in its latest Copper Creek program before pausing in June to account for the acquisition and Arizona’s summer storms. More assay results remain pending. Staged build The company plans to place shared facilities on the former San Manuel mine lands rather than duplicate infrastructure at Copper Creek.  The acquisition is served by roads, rail, gas and power.  Harbidge wants to start with oxide material at San Manuel, then develop Copper Creek’s open pits and use cash flow to help fund a mill for sulphide ore. Underground production would follow from Copper Creek and the San Manuel-Kalamazoo system. “It’s not like we’ve got to write a $5-billion cheque for initial capital,” Harbidge said. He sees potential for more than four decades of production at about 150,000 tonnes of copper a year. That concept still requires confirmation drilling, a current resource and detailed engineering. Funding runway Faraday held $94.2 million in cash and $32 million in term deposits at June 30. Harbidge said the funds should carry the company into early 2028, covering the acquisition, San Manuel drilling, the combined resource and the first-stage study. BHP would own 30% of Faraday on a fully diluted basis after closing and gain the right to nominate a director. The Lundin family trusts hold about 18%. Both investors participated in Faraday’s $100-million financing in March. Haywood Securities has maintained its buy rating and $7 target, identifying the combined resource and mine study as Faraday’s main catalysts. The shares gained 34% during the second quarter, making Faraday one of the strongest developers in Haywood’s coverage as the broader group fell an average of 9%. Faraday has no immediate appetite for another acquisition, Harbidge said. Its challenge now is to prove the scale it has assembled. “We’ve caught the tiger by the tail in consolidating San Manuel with Copper Creek,” he said. Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com