Cyprium Metals (ASX:CYM) reports robust June quarter progress

Highlights

• During the June quarter, Cyprium Metals (ASX:CYM) reported an increase in MRE for the Nifty Copper Project and advanced well to secure finance for construction.
• The Nifty Copper Project Mineral Resource Estimate increased to 940,200t contained Cu
• The Nanadie Well Mineral Resource of 162,000t contained copper.
• CYM also concluded a placement to raise AU$16 million and is looking to finalise an entitlement offer in early August.

Cyprium Metals Limited (ASX:CYM) aced through a busy June quarter with the Mineral Resource Estimates (MREs) for Nifty as well as Nanadie Well projects. Besides this, the company has made significant progress in relation to the Nifty Copper Project Restart Study.  

CYM has also inked a deal on debt financing and undertook capital raising to beef up its financial stance for upcoming works.

Let us look at CYM’s progress during the June quarter ended 30 June 2022.

Advancements at the Nifty Copper Project

During the quarter, CYM undertook a significant clean-up of the mine site, along with sorting of equipment, parts, critical spares and supplies. CYM also concluded work on the concrete batching plant to ready it for operation once construction kickstarts. This would substantially enhance project cost efficiencies during the construction phase.

CYM also advanced work concerning the preparation for refurbishment of the solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) plant. One area in the accommodation is now ready for hand over to use, while refurbishment of other areas is continuing.

Source: CYM Announcement 28/07/2022

CYM has also upgraded the mobile communications tower to enable 4G services, enhancing the communications and data capacity across the site. Commissioning of site control systems is continuing to make them operational, and the launch of ERP has embedded the budget and project cost tracking process.

On the regulatory front, CYM’s approval and licence have been accepted and advertised. The next step of securing the licence includes a requirement for a post-construction inspection and the authorisation that it has been built as per the guidelines in the approval documents and complies with the conditions for approval.

Testing Nifty metallurgy

CYM looks to conduct the next stage of testing Nifty metallurgy across a set of core samples collected from the open pit mineral resource. Through this, CYM intends to ensure that the leaching process is tested on individual ore types to ascertain the existence of any additional optimisation work that can be undertaken.

The testing will also touch upon the recovery of the thin native copper. This copper has been identified in the past in the Nifty orebody and has been noted in the footwall of the mineral resource throughout diamond drilling.

Nifty MRE update

The successful completion of the Nifty west pit drilling program and Nifty Copper Project Restart Study has delivered the present Nifty MRE of 95.1Mt at 1.0% copper for a total contained copper inventory of 940,200t.

Source: CYM Announcement 28/07/2022

CYM believes that there is notable potential to enhance the Nifty mineral resource on the basis of the extensive review of the present geological data and the completed RC and diamond drilling programmes.

Besides this, the assay results from the Nifty East infill extensional drilling program indicate the possibility of defining further shallow mineralisation for the proposed heap leach restart and expanding the present 940,200t contained copper MRE.

Source: CYM Announcement 28/07/2022

RC drilling results at Maroochydore Project

During the quarter, CYM received assay results from an RC drilling campaign that was conducted at the Maroochydore Copper–Cobalt Project in 2021.

The company believes that the results of the 2021 RC drilling programme will help in informing a mineral resource update for the project by the end of 2022. This will further be used in a scoping study.

Maiden MRE for Nanadie Well deposit

Subsequent to the June quarter, CYM declared maiden MRE for the Nanadie Well deposit. This MRE forms part of the Murchison Copper-Gold Project, and the Nanadie Well model further outlines the possibility of extending the known resource along strike as well as down dip.

Source: CYM Announcement 28/07/2022

CYM’s financing and near-term stance

CYM has been engaged in discussions with financing counterparties for funding the Nifty Copper Project restart. As part of the debt financing, CYM inked a Letter of Intent with Glencore International AG for AU$50 million during the quarter.

This deal with Glencore is part of the targeted AUD240 million to AUD260 million debt financing package and is anticipated to comprise senior secured funding and secured offtake funding.

The upcoming activities comprising CYM’s forward plan for the September 2022 quarter are as follows:

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Besides this, CYM secured AU$16 million (before costs) via an oversubscribed placement and is also undertaking a non-renounceable pro rata entitlement offer to raise a maximum of AU$10 million. The price of the shares to be issued under the entitlement offer and those issued under the placement remain the same.

CYM intends to utilise the proceeds towards funding the restart of the Nifty Copper Project.