True North Copper has mined its first ore at the Wallace North pit near Cloncurry as it continues to ramp up activity.

The company last month announced the start of mining activities at Wallace North, one of four open-pit deposits making up its Cloncurry Copper Project.

With a total of 52,000 BCM of overburden shifted to date, True North began first ore block mining from the 180 bench yesterday. (Image at top of page)

“We are delighted by the progress made by our team at Wallace North following the mining restart last month,” True North Copper managing director Bevan Jones said.

“TNC is moving closer to becoming Australia’s next copper producer with first ore mined and delivered to the ROM pad.

“Wallace North ore is expected to start being transported to our Cloncurry processing hub this month.

“This progress is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our team at CCP and provides momentum for the company as we near this major milestone.

“Our steady progress strengthens TNC’s position as an emerging copper and critical metals company based in North Queensland.”

Oxide ore will be transported by road train to the company’s Cloncurry Operations Hub’s (COH) for crushing and stacking to existing heap leach pads.

The COH, 2km outside Cloncurry, is set to service all four of TNC’s deposits with essential infrastructure, technical systems and support.

It includes a solvent extraction (SX) processing plant, mine buildings, site administration facilities, workshops, open-pit mine facilities, onsite explosive magazines, site storage, water management systems and power supply.

Sulphide ore will be transported for treatment under TNC’s toll-milling agreement with Glencore.

The Cloncurry Copper Project is forecast to generate free cash flow of about $200 million at current copper spot prices over its initial 4.6-year mine life.

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