OZ, Cassini Formalize West Musgrave Joint Venture


OZ will begin a diamond core-drilling program in November to collect new samples for metallurgical
studies to recover copper and nickel from the Nebo-Babel deposits. (Photo: OZ Minerals)
OZ Minerals has signed a joint-venture earn-in agreement with Cassini Resources that allows OZ to earn up to a 70% interest in the West Musgrave copper-nickel project in a remote area of east-central West Australia. Initial work will focus on an A$3 million scoping study to identify a commercial pathway to begin mining the Nebo-Babel deposits on the project, currently Australia’s largest undeveloped copper-nickel resource.

The initial study will set out both the appropriate size of any future mine and optimal infrastructure solutions to support the project. The study is scheduled for completion in September 2017.

The West Musgrave earn-in agreement is structured in three phases. After the initial scoping study, OZ may earn a 51% interest in the project by sole funding an additional A$15 million within 18 months toward completion of a prefeasibility study and the start of a definitive feasibility study (DFS), as well as sole-funding at least A$4 million for regional exploration over the same 18-month period.

Following this 18-month period, OZ may earn an additional 19% interest, for a total 70% interest, by sole funding a further A$10 million within a 12-month period toward completion of the DFS and a further A$4 million on regional exploration. An extensive regional exploration database will enable targets to be rapidly assessed and tested.

As part of the geometallurgical modeling, work will begin in November on a 700-meter (m) PQ diamond core-drilling program to collect new samples for further metallurgical test work aimed at improving recoveries of both copper and nickel from the Nebo-Babel deposits. A reverse-circulation drilling program will also be undertaken of potential highgrade extensions to the already estimated 200 million metric tons (mt) of ore at greater than 1.3% copper equivalent.

The West Musgrave project includes the Nebo-Babel copper-nickel sulphide deposits and the Succoth copper deposit. The Nebo-Babel deposits lie with 50 m of the surface and are flat, shallow-dipping ore bodies, with the higher-grade mineralization occurring at the top.

Since 2000, the deposits have been subject to an estimated A$100 million in exploration studies, including more than 75,000 m of drilling in 307 drill holes; metallurgical test work; and environmental and scoping studies.

As featured in Womp 2016 Vol 11 - www.womp-int.com