Chilean copper giant Codelco is running the ruler over Central Queensland’s Mount Cannindah project, with representatives expected to begin work at the site this week.

The Cannindah Resources board has received a proposal from Codelco to conduct due diligence activity over its flagship copper project in contemplation of entering into a potential transaction.

It is considering its position, according to an announcement to the ASX today, and has executed a ‘consent deed’ detailing the conditions upon which Codelco will be allowed to access the project and data.

The deed gives consent to Codelco to conduct low-impact ground-based exploration activity and to review drill core in Cannindah Resource’s storage area in Townsville in the coming weeks.

The data from this planned exploration activity will be provided to Cannindah Resources at no cost once the studies are completed.

The Chilean state-run copper producer has been engaging with Cannindah Resources since June last year.

Cannindah Resources managing director Tom Pickett said it was an excellent endorsement of the credibility of the company’s flagship Mount Cannindah asset to have attracted this international interest.

“We look forward to receiving the benefits of their work as we complete our work to continue to build scale at Mount Cannindah over the next 12 months,” he said.

“Our planned exploration program will be focused on additional tonnes to expand upon the resource we recently released, along with exploration of new and existing targets to add further scale.”

Related: Major lift in copper tonnage for Mount Cannindah

The company in June announced an expansion of the mineral resource estimate for Mount Cannindah to 14.5Mt at 1.09 per cent copper equivalent at a cut-off grade of 0.3 per cent CuEq. 

Cannindah Resources said the consent deed with Codelco did not outline a potential transaction, or bind the parties to enter into a transaction. Either party may terminate the deed with five days’ notice.

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