Investor Perception
Anax Metals is an ASX-listed exploration firm seeking to develop its copper belongings within the Pilbara Area of Australia. It has necessary joint ventures and partnerships that may facilitate the execution of a strategic processing hub to supply a compelling investor worth proposition.
Overview
Anax Metals (ASX:ANX) is a venture developer that’s on observe to start producing copper and zinc concentrates from its flagship Whim Creek venture situated within the Pilbara area of Western Australia. The venture is 80 p.c owned by Anax, with JV associate Develop International (Develop) proudly owning the remaining 20 p.c. The Whim Creek DFS (and leaching research) have demonstrated the chance for an eight-year mining operation producing copper concentrates, cathodes and beneficial byproducts. The operation will generate $410 million in money stream and ship an NPV of $270 million with a growth capex of $71 million.
The corporate believes its development potential lies each in increasing the mineral assets throughout the venture’s 4 deposits and a consolidation technique that features a processing hub with a concentrator and heap leach at Whim Creek. Advantages from the consolidation embody delivering economies of scale with processing flexibility to deal with ores from regional orebodies. The permitted infrastructure is ideally situated and suited to changing into the Pilbara-processing hub.,
Anax Metals and Develop have commenced a scoping research to guage the potential for treating high-grade oxide/transitional ores from Develop’s wholly owned Sulphur Springs venture on the Whim Creek heap.
Throughout the second quarter of 2024, Anax Metals and GreenTech Metals introduced that they had signed a non-binding and non-exclusive memorandum of understanding to evaluate the potential to deal with mined materials from GreenTech’s base metallic belongings, with a deal with the open-pittable Whundo deposit.
Anax Metals additionally signed a non-binding and non-exclusive memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Artemis Assets (ASX:ARV) to collectively assess the potential for processing the copper content material of Artemis’ open-pittable Better Carlow useful resource on the fully-permitted Whim Creek Processing hub. Anax and Artemis additionally agree to guage the potential for Artemis to probe for gold mineralisation on the Anax venture tenure.
Whim Creek Pit
Since buying the venture in 2020, Anax Metals has elevated its contained metallic useful resource stock by over 57 p.c. On the finish of the second quarter of 2024, Anax Metals signed a contract with drilling firm Topdrill for as much as 1,700 metres of diamond drilling. Diamond drill rigs have been mobilized at website with the first purpose of testing the down-plunge extensions of the high-grade copper zones on the Evelyn deposit. Earlier drilling intersected 13 m @ 4.46 p.c copper, 3.10 p.c zinc, 45 g/t silver and 1.61 g/t gold from 204 m. Evelyn stays open down plunge with a number of growth potential.
Firm Highlights
- Focus stays on delivering near-term copper manufacturing, throughout the subsequent 18 to 24 months, on the Whim Creek copper-zinc venture, which is able to generate in extra of $400 million in free money stream over an eight-year mine life.
- The corporate’s development technique contains delivering each useful resource development and consolidation of copper belongings within the Pilbara area by way of the event of a central processing hub.
- Since finishing the DFS final 12 months, Anax Metals has been contemplating the potential to broaden the manufacturing capability of Whim Creek infrastructure past 20 kt of copper equal per 12 months.
- Capital necessities are anticipated to be low as Anax Metals plans to utilise substantial current infrastructure and implement preconcentration know-how to cut back course of capability necessities.
- The corporate is presently working with key companions, together with Develop International (ASX:DVP), Greentech Metals (ASX:GRE), and several other metallic buying and selling teams.
Whim Creek Copper Zinc Challenge
Whim Creek is situated 120 km from each Port Headland and Karratha on the NW Coastal Freeway within the Pilbara area of Western Australia. The venture has a protracted historical past of copper manufacturing with current infrastructure that features dams, haul roads, workplaces, workshops and a devoted gasoline spur line to website. The venture is presently being developed as a three way partnership (80/20) between Anax Metals and Develop International. The venture has 4 major deposits, particularly Whim Creek, Mons Cupri, Salt Creek and Evelyn, with structurally managed, volcanic-hosted huge sulphide model copper-zinc-lead mineralization.
Manufacturing – Concentrator and Heap Leach
Since finishing the definitive feasibility research in 2023, Anax has promoted Whim Creek as a regional processing hub, with potential for an expanded manufacturing capability in extra of 20 kt copper equal. Highlights of the technical report embody FCF technology of $410 million over an eight-year mine life. Processing can be predominantly by way of the deliberate concentrator. Heap leaching is anticipated to start within the second 12 months of manufacturing.
A processing hub with sorting, concentrator and heap leach amenities
The corporate believes the venture may also present a processing answer for surrounding tasks situated inside trucking distance of Anax’s processing facility. Long run, Anax plans to ascertain a Pilbara Base Steel Alliance to facilitate collaboration with different base metallic tasks within the area.
Exploration
The venture exploration tenure is situated within the extremely potential Archean granite-greenstones of the Pilbara area, encompassing the width of the Whim Creek Greenstone Belt. Close to mine extensions to recognized copper-zinc-lead VMS assets stay underexplored with potential at Mons Cupri South for the invention of a brand new intact Mons Cupri-sized deposit. VMS-style alteration and mineralisation have been intersected over 1km. The 2 satellite tv for pc deposits at Salt Creek and Evelyn have glorious down plunge and strike potential for blind huge sulphide shoots and drilling is underneath means at Evelyn.
Administration Group
Phillip Jackson – Chairman
A barrister and solicitor with vital authorized and worldwide company expertise, Phillip Jackson specialises in business and contract regulation, mining and power regulation and company governance. He has been a director and chairman of numerous ASX and AIM listed minerals firms.
Geoff Laing – Managing Director
Geoff Laing is a chemical engineer with 30 years in mining and venture growth. He has been concerned within the exploration and junior mining sector for the final 15 years, taking up company and advisory roles. He was a key participant in Exco Assets’ divestment of a considerable copper asset for $175 million to Xstrata Copper, and as managing director, he delivered the profitable takeover of the corporate by WH Sol Pattinson.
Peter Cordin – Non-executive Director
Peter Cordin is a civil engineer with over 45 years’ international expertise in mining and exploration, each at operational and senior administration ranges. He has direct expertise within the building and administration of diamond and gold operations in Australia, Fenno-Scandinavia and Indonesia.
Phil Warren – Non-executive Director
Phil Warren is a chartered accountant with over 25 years’ expertise in board governance, company advisory and capital elevating recommendation. Warren has spent numerous years working abroad for main worldwide funding banks. He’s presently a non-executive director of ASX listed firms, together with Household Zone Cyber Security, Narryer Metals, Killi Useful resource and Hire.com.au. He was a founding director of Cassini Assets, which was subsequently acquired by Oz Minerals.
Jenine Owen – Chief Monetary Officer
Jenine Owen joined Anax in 2020, the place she is accountable for company danger administration, monetary administration and monetary reporting. She is a chartered accountant with intensive finance and business expertise, together with a number of CFO roles in ASX listed entities. Having began her profession with Deloitte (Zimbabwe) within the exterior assurance division, she moved to London in 1999 the place she held varied finance and governance roles earlier than settling in Australia in 2008. Previous to becoming a member of Anax, Owen was CFO at Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI).
