True North steams towards Great Australia mine start

True North Copper is in recruitment mode as it aims for a pre-Christmas start to mining operations at the Great Australia pits at Cloncurry. The company announced an initial ore reserve of 4Mt in July and has since completed more than 16000m of drilling at the site. "We believe there's well in excess of the 4 million tonnes and we're currently doing a re-estimation of our reserves," True North managing director Marty Costello said. "But we have sufficient confidence that the reopening of Great Australia is a/ very profitable and b/ sustainable in terms of, once we start, at this stage we've got a mine life out there of seven years." He said True North was looking to start mining before Christmas, pending approval by the board - which is due to meet at the end of this month and again in November. True North Copper managing director Marty Costello. The company has already started hiring, with key appointments including mining superintendent, and is now taking expressions of interest for operator roles. It is looking to fly workers from the coastal centres of Cairns and Townsville, as well as having workers based in the Cloncurry and Mount Isa area. Mr Costello said the number of people (including contractors) working at True North's Cloncurry project had dropped from just over 70 to around 40 as the exploration drilling program wound down and refurbishment of the copper sulphate plant at the Great Australia complex was completed. He expects that to lift to about 100 as mining begins. "So we're looking to recruit another 60 odd people over the next three or so months," Mr Costello said. The ore reserve statement for the Great Australia mine released in July estimates a reserve of 4.0 million tonnes of ore at 0.74 per cent copper and 0.08g/t gold. It is based on an area located on existing mining leases, with environmental approvals in place. Oxide ores mined at Great Australia will be processed at True North's copper sulphate plant, while the company plans to toll treat sulphide ores. Mr Costello said the company expected to produce 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of copper metal per annum from Great Australia. True North Copper started trading on the Australian Securities Exchange in June following its merger with Duke Exploration and a $37.7 million capital raising. Related: Strong copper and gold intercepts at Wallace North The next project out of the starting blocks is likely to be Wallace North, where True North has carried out resource definition and grade control drilling. "That's another fully permitted project and it's located 20km from Great Australia," Mr Costello said. "We are looking to put out an initial reserve (estimate) for the Wallace North project by Christmas time, and that's another pit that we will go to and mine to add to our mine life." Details of jobs available with True North Copper can be viewed HERE. Image at top of page: Core from drilling at Great Australia showing sulphide mineralisation. Below: True North Copper's Cloncurry tenements.

True North steams towards Great Australia mine start

Industry Queensland

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