Common-user infrastructure is firming up as a preferred option for junior miners wanting to bring their projects into operation in North-West Queensland.
Maronan Metals has a silver-lead-copper project 65km from Cloncurry.
The company has a $50 million market capitalisation, which falls short of where it needs to be to develop the mine.
Main image: Drilling at Maronan
That amount was in the ‘couple of hundred million dollars range’, which was a capital hurdle, exploration manager Andrew Barker said.
Toll milling, where a junior rents the smelting and other infrastructure from another business, was being discussed, Mr Barker said.
The Maronan lease is in the vicinity of the Eloise, Cannington, Dugald River and Ernest Henry operations. Maronan Metals was spun out in an IPO in April 2022 from Red Metal Limited who have held the project since their IPO in 2003.
The South 32-owned Cannington mine was one operation that offered opportunity, according to Mr Barker, who recently spoke at a regional resilience forum organised by the Mount Isa Townsville Economic Zone.
“Look, you can do some maths. When Cannington was in full swing, they were doing three million tonnes per annum through the mill there,” he said.
“And looking at their publicly released reports, they’re currently doing just over two million. So the mill’s not at 100 per cent capacity.
“So maybe there’s an opportunity for us that we can both get some value out of the capacity that’s not being utilised there.”
Infrastructure catalysts were also needed to help develop inland areas, Mr Barker said.
The CopperString project connecting North-West Queensland to the national electricity market on the east coast was one that would have ongoing consequences.
Water, transport and lifestyle infrastructure were others that could be gamechangers, Mr Barker said.
“We’re talking to everyone. We’d love to realise the value of this project for our shareholders. This project was actually discovered in 1988 and various companies have been exploring it since then.
“There’s been some very patient shareholders there who haven’t necessarily seen a huge return from the investment to date.
“We’d really love to try and get this mine up and running so the shareholders that have supported us can actually get a return.”
