CopperCorp (CPER) - High-Grade Copper Exploration

CopperCorp Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on the advancement of its AMC and Skyline projects, located in the island state of Tasmania. The AMC project of the company, formerly known as the Alpine project is an iron oxide copper and gold (IOCG) type deposit, with a 1,066 km2 land package. The Skyline project of the company is a 334 km land package located within 10 km of an operating hydroelectric renewable energy project.

The state of Tasmania is an island state of Australia and is powered 100% by renewable energy as well as has over 150 years of mining history. The exports of Tasmania are predominantly mining-related, with more than 60% of the state’s exports being from mining. The western part of Tasmania also hosts approximately 10 past and currently operating mining operations, including world-class mines such as the Henty Gold Mine owned by Catalyst Metals Limited.

Matthew Gordon spoke with Stephen Swatton, the CEO of CopperCorp Resources Inc. (TSX: CPER) to discuss the company and its recent activities. 

Company Overview

The company recently announced preliminary assay results from the first four drill holes of its ongoing drilling program at the Stellar Zone of the AMC project. The company believes that the preliminary assay results confirm its interpretation of historic drilling campaigns. The preliminary assay results show mineralisation highlights such as a 6 m interval of 0.96% copper as well as a 43 m interval at 0.62% copper. Assay results of a further seven drill holes from the initial stellar zone drilling program are pending and will be reported when they are received.

CopperCorp Resources Inc. plans to extend its current drilling program to 10,000 m from 4,200 m, which is aimed at vectoring toward potential thicker and higher-grade mineralization zones in the Stellar zone as well as testing the zone at depth. The expanded drilling program will also conduct step-out drilling at the high-priority Alpine West and Alpine North targets.

Management

The company is led by Stephen Swatton who serves as CEO and director of the company. Swatton is a geologist with more than 30 years of experience and has led multiple junior exploration companies through the exploration phase. He has also led large technical and corporate development teams for both BHP mining and Rio Tinto in which he has evaluated numerous projects as well as raised over USD$300 million.

Eoin Saadien serves as the Chairman of the company’s board and is a founder of CopperCorp Resources Inc. along with Sam Garrett, Doug Kirwin and Sean Westbrook.

Rob Scott is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of CopperCorp Resources Inc. and brings with him over 20 years of financial management experience in the junior mining sector. Scott is an expert in ensuring financial disclosure and compliance as well as in conducting mergers and acquisitions.

Sean Westbrook is the Vice President of Exploration as well as a founder of the company and assembler of the company’s project portfolio. Westbrook has more than 20 years of experience in the Tasmanian mineral sector and is able to leverage his experience to lead local geology and drilling teams as well as communicate with local vendors and stakeholders.

Doug Kirwin serves as the Senior Technical Advisor of the company and is also a founder of CopperCorp Resources Inc. Kirwin has been involved in the discovery of several significant mineral deposits spanning a 50-year career.

Leo Hathaway and John Robins serve as advisors to the company and are both professionally registered geologists. Hathaway is on the board of both the Lundin Group as well as the Lumina Group and brings with him decades of experience in the mineral sector. Robins has in his career been involved in over USD$ 1 billion of mergers and acquisitions. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in project evaluation and development, M&A and capital markets.

Danica Topolewski is the Corporate Secretary of CopperCorp Resources Inc. Topolewski is a partner in a privately-held consulting company offering corporate secretarial services to both private and publicly listed companies. Craig Roberts and Aaron Keay complete the management team as directors of CopperCorp Resources Inc.

The management team of the company is well versed in navigating the Tasmanian mining industry and are tasked with advancing the company’s projects.

Operating in Tasmania

Tasmania is an island state of Australia and is located 240 km south of the Australian mainland. The state is the 26t largest island in the world and boasts more than 150 years of mining history with it being mined since the middle of the 1800s. Initially, the mining of the state was focused on silver mineralisation but has expanded to a multi-commodity mining industry which includes gold, silver, copper, tin and magnesium. Swatton explains the island state as follows:

“There's about 10 past and currently operating mines in the western part of Tasmania. It's quite incredible, where two-thirds of the island is totally off-limits and it's a beautiful part of the world…then in the northwest area, there are some world-class mines like Henty and Mount Lyell. Mount Lyell is 2 million tons of copper, and it's a thriving mining area actually, an exploration area. It produces more than 50% of the revenue for the Tasmanian state so it's a very important part of the economy. And not a lot of people know that.”

The revenue of the island-state is reliant on its mining industry, with 60% of the state's exports being mining related. The state's reliance on its mining industry leads to mining companies in Tasmania experiencing local and governmental support. Swatton explains the simplicity of the permitting process as follows:

“Dealing with local government, is the MRT as it's called, is reasonably straightforward. We get our drill permits and our permits to build roads in a timely fashion, which is a little unlike my last job in California, as you remember.”

The island-state is also fully reliant on renewable sources of energy, which include hydropower, as well as a wind farm. The current price of copper coupled with the uncertainty traditional copper-producing countries such as Chile and the DRC face, further adds to the allure of mining in Tasmania. Swatton explains operating in the state as follows:

“It's so important to the revenue of the state. There are other industries, fishing, farming and mining; those are the three main ones that are there. And they just changed state premier there recently and are very supportive. Everything seems to be, like, heaven forbid that you step outside of your area of interest, but within it, like Zeehan which is our local town, where we operate out of, every single person is either directly or indirectly related to exploration or mining. It’s a bit like some of the Northern BC towns or Northern Ontario, it really is that way. I didn't expect it myself, but it really is that way.”

Projects

The asset portfolio of CopperCorp Resources Inc. consists of the AMC project, previously known as the Alpine project and the Skyline project, both located in the island state of Tasmania.

The AMC project is located on the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Arthur Metamorphic Complex and has a land package of 1,066 km2 along 100 km of strike length. The large land package establishes CopperCorp Resources Inc. as the dominant ground holder in the district.

The Skyline project of the company is located 10 km northeast of the local mining town of Queenstown and within 10 km of operating hydroelectric renewable energy projects. The project is a 334 km2 land package which consists of two exploration licences of prospective ground along the eastern margin of the highly mineralized Cambrian calc-alkaline volcanic arc of the Mount Read Volcanics belt.

Recent news

The company announced in mid April 2022, that its common shares had started trading on the OTCQB marketplace under the symbol CPCPF. The rationale according to the company is to introduce CopperCorp Resources Inc. to a larger audience and improve the liquidity of the stock, with the company’s exposure to the US markets allowing it to have access to potential larger pools of capital.

CopperCorp Resources Inc. announced at the end of April 2022, that it would expand its 4,200 m diamond drilling program at the AMC project to 10,000 m. The expansion of the diamond drilling program is to enable continued testing of the Alpine Stellar zone of the project, as well as to enable the drilling of newly identified high-priority step out drill targets. The company is underway with the planning and permitting of the expanded diamond drilling program and is seeking a second diamond drilling rig to support the expanded program.

The company also completed a detailed ground gravity survey over the Alpine prospect area. The ground gravity survey results have been interpreted and implemented towards a 3D geophysical model by the Australian independent geophysical consultants, Resource Potentials Pty Ltd. The generated 3D geophysical model confirms the potential for large scale Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold mineralisation at the AMC project and has resulted in the identification of various new drill targets, which the company plans to include in its expanded drilling program.

The company announced in early May 2022, that it had received preliminary assay results from the first four drill holes of its diamond drilling program at the Stellar Zone of the AMC project. The highlights of the preliminary assay results include the interception of 43.0 m of mineralisation at a grade of 0.62% copper as well as an interception of 6 m of mineralisation at a grade of 0.96% copper. The company is awaiting the preliminary assay results from a further 7 drill holes.

Future

CopperCorp Resources Inc. has a cash position of approximately CAD$ 9 million, an amount which is sufficient to see the company reach all its milestones for the next 3 to 4 years. Swatton explains the company’s cash position and greatest challenge currently as follows:

“…we're not too concerned about the cash situation right now, simply because we have about 3 or 4 years of working capital ahead of us. I mean, at the moment, the biggest impediment we have is the time between putting the rocks into the assay lab and recovery. That means sometimes, we've had 3, 4-months turnaround time…”

CopperCorp Resources Inc. plans to complete a mineral resource estimate of the AMC project in the near future through the obtained results of its current drilling program. The company is underway with the acquisition of a second drill rig to support its expansion endeavours for its diamond drilling program. The company is very optimistic regarding its Tasmanian projects and believes that should the new drill results show the same mineralisation as what the company has encountered until now, it may be a very economic resource. Swatton sums up the company’s view as follows:

“…if we continue to have results like we have right now, we're certainly on to something… what we're doing is because there have already been drill holes in the past, we're on hole 32 right now. We've already got the results of the previous drilling, we're already putting a rough resource estimate around what we already have at 0.5% type-level material. So it's looking promising, I'm not for one minute suggesting we have anything that's an economic resource, but we're in the right ballpark. If you think to yourself right now it is a billion tonnes at 0.57 and we're intersecting 0.6 right off the bat, it's not a bad start.”

To find out more, go to the CopperCorp website