Infinity Mining secures historic NSW copper-gold operation

Infinity Mining has signed a binding term sheet to acquire the historic Cangai copper mine – previously in production for about 16 years – that sits in the north-west corner of New South Wales.

The project comes with an existing in-ground mineral resource of 4.4 million tonnes grading 2.5 per cent copper, in addition to a further 200,000 tonnes of mineralised ore sitting in stockpiles going an estimated 1.35 per cent in grade.

Management says it equates to a total of 114,000 tonnes of copper metal, with additional credits for zinc, gold and silver. It adds that previous drilling assays at the site highlighted copper grades of up to 14.45 per cent.

The company has agreed to acquire Cangai from ASX-listed Castillo Copper for 40 million shares plus 20 million options to acquire Infinity’s shares for 7c, expiring five years from the date of the options granted. An additional condition is for Infinity to receive firm commitments for a capital raising of no less than $1 million in funding.

The project, which sits 220km south of Brisbane, has a fascinating history dating back to its discovery in 1901. Initially, mining began in 1904 and only ore estimated to grade higher than 13 per cent copper was extracted using old-fashioned “hard yakka” methods, continuing until 1917.

It is estimated that 5000 tonnes of copper was mined during the period, accompanied by notable gold and silver levels.

Mining rebooted in 1934 and ran for three years, producing 5080 tonnes of copper, 1035kg of silver and 527kg of gold from an underground operation that extracted 307,000 tonnes of ore. Copper grades mined were estimated between at 7 and 10 per cent.

Closing in 1937, Cangai has since been subject to a series of exploration efforts across the decades, consisting of stream sediment sampling, mapping, rock-chip sampling and electromagnetic and ground magnetic surveys, while various diamond drillholes were also hammered into the site.

All of the companies exploring the project area, which comprises three adjacent tenements, moved on due to depressed commodity pricing or insufficient evidence from their own exploration efforts, before the project was acquired by Castillo back in 2017 and a maiden resource was released the same year.

The acquisition of the Cangai Copper Project represents a significant opportunity for Infinity Mining, aligning with our recent acquisitions. With rising copper demand and the project’s outstanding historical grades, we are eager to unlock its full potential through targeted exploration and development.

After Castillo’s acquisition, Infinity embarked on a series of drill programs within the first two years. The best results from reverse-circulation (RC) drilling in 2018 were 11m at 5.94 per cent copper from 40m that included 1m going 10.25 per cent and 3m at 8.1 per cent from 41m.

A later diamond-drill program returned 4.39m running 5.06 per cent copper, 2.56 per cent zinc and 20.1 grams per tonne silver from 49.9m. An updated mineral resource was provided to the market using the results from the 36-hole campaign during 2017-2019.

Management says it has a plethora of recent exploration information from which to base its method of attack on the promising ground. It noted a downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) survey highlighted a sizeable, massive sulphide conductor and provided several new targets open at depth.

A south-east-trending mineralised extension has been inferred from surface assays that produced results dubbed “Canberra” at 1660 parts per million copper and “Sydney” going 500ppm, with rock-chips in the same area returning grades of up to 23.9 per cent.

The company believes there is a near-term revenue opportunity processing the existing stockpile dumps, with metallurgical tests confirming the presence of high-grade copper and other metals. Assays from several dumps returned average head grades of up to 2.03 per cent copper.

Further testwork on beneficiation of the ore showed copper concentrate recoveries exceeding 80 per cent and grades of up to 22 per cent.

Infinity’s near-term plans include focusing on unmined sections of the site and the high-grade copper zone. It also plans to conduct soil sampling, topographic surveys and a two-stage drilling campaign to target known mineralised sections, in addition to deeper conductor anomalies generated from advanced geophysical DHEM and fixed-loop electromagnetic (FLEM) surveys.

An updated resource is anticipated after the drill programs.

The company revealed in August that it had procured a portfolio of copper-gold exploration projects in several States from a mix of vendors and it perceives them as being complimentary to its existing lithium, precious metals and base metal projects.

With a bevy of targets that would make a shooting gallery envious, Infinity should have plenty of news flow to keep the market interested in the foreseeable future.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au