Three drill rigs are working away at the Eva copper site as new owner Harmony updates the feasibility study for mining.

Chief executive officer Peter Steenkamp said this week the company had drilled more than 28,000m to date at the project.

Meanwhile it is weighing up a range of on-site and off-site power generation and transmission options, with a focus on renewable energy.

Mr Steenkamp said that in conjunction with the feasibility study update, Harmony was engaging with the environmental regulator regarding potential permit amendments.

“These may be required in support of the study outcomes as we are investigating lower carbon intensity power supply options for the project,” he said.”

“This is in line with our sustainable development strategy and zero carbon road map.”

Harmony acquired the Eva copper project, 76km north-west of Cloncurry, late last year from Copper Mountain Mining in a $350 million deal.

The South African company has since set about testing and validating elements of Copper Mountain Mining’s feasibility work at Eva, where it had proposed an $836 million development comprising an open-pit copper-gold mining operation with an associated gravity and flotation processing plant.

It has previously flagged December as the target timeframe to complete the review and go to the board for a final investment decision to take the project into construction.

Harmony is South Africa’s largest gold mining company by volume and the largest producer globally of gold from the retreatment of old tailings dams.

Mr Steenkamp said the company was investing in copper as it understood the critical role that this future-facing metal had in transitioning towards a low-carbon economy.

“We are therefore, allocating growth capital towards high-margin, long-life operating assets while progressing our two key international projects, namely Eva Copper in Queensland, Australia and the Tier 1 Wafi-Golpu copper-gold project in Papua New Guinea,” he said.

The comments came as Harmony released its financial and operating results for the year ended June 30, reporting a net profit of $US275 million.