Peel Mining (ASX:PEX) – base metal exploration in the Cobar Superbasin in western New South Wales, June 2021

 

Peel Mining Limited (ASX:PEX) Managing Director Rob Tyson talks about the company's projects targeting zinc & copper, drill results, hub and spoke model, and its outlook.

Melissa Darmawan: Hello. Melissa Darmawan for the Finance News Network. Joining me from Peel Mining (ASX:PEX) is Managing Director Rob Tyson.

Melissa Darmawan: Hi, Rob. Nice to meet you, and welcome to FNN.

Rob Tyson: G'day, Melissa. Nice to be here.

Melissa Darmawan: It's great to have you. Peel Mining is targeting basement ore deposits in central west New South Wales. Firstly, can you tell us more about the location, along with an update on how it's progressing?

Rob Tyson: Yeah, certainly. So look, we're in the Cobar Basin, which is about eight hours' drive west of Sydney. It's a mining jurisdiction, a fantastic place to operate. Second richest part of New South Wales in terms of base metal deposits after Broken Hill, which is obviously a hard act to follow. But it's a mining-friendly jurisdiction, and long-life mining operations are still going there, and we've made it our home over the last 10 years.

Melissa Darmawan: And what is the history of mining in Cobar?

Rob Tyson: Look, 150 years old a year or so ago. So, mining first started back in 1870 at the CSA Mine, as it's known today. And over the last 150 years, something like 2.5, 3 million tonnes of copper is being exploited or still in resource, as well as 6.5 million ounces of gold, and lots of silver, lead and zinc has been retrieved, or is still in resource there. And, yeah, look, it's a wonderful jurisdiction to be exploring. And we've had a lot of success over the last decade with three discoveries in our own right, and we're drilling away on two of those at the moment.

Melissa Darmawan: The company owns a couple of copper deposits. Could you talk us through that and any drill results?

Rob Tyson: Yeah, sure. So, look, that's where we're drilling at the moment. So, we've got two rigs at a deposit called Wirlong. Its a copper deposit, and we're getting some spectacular drill results out of that of late. So 28 metres at 3.6 per cent copper. 24.4 metres at a similar grade. 3.6, 3.7 per cent copper. And they're just a few of a whole heap of results we've had lately that show the potential of that system. So, Wirlong is being drilled for a maiden resource at the moment. It'll be a copper-rich deposit, a copper-rich resource. And we're also drilling at Mallee Bull, which was one of our first discoveries in the Cobar Basin. And we're drilling to upgrade that copper resource. 6.8 million tonnes at 1.8 per cent copper, and within that is a higher grade zone. But we're essentially drilling to convert the existing resource from primarily inferred to indicated. So, lots of copper results flowing over the next six months.

Melissa Darmawan: And, Rob, can you provide an update on other projects that the company's working on?

Rob Tyson: All of this is to feed into our conceptual studies around a new mill in the district that will basically be the center of our gravity. And, yeah, so that's going on as we speak as well. So, lots of work around hydrology, flora and fauna, all the inputs that are required to go into that scoping work.

Melissa Darmawan: Part of the company strategy involves a hub and spoke model. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Rob Tyson: Yeah. Look, so that essentially will be the basis or the foundation of the conceptual or scoping study work that we're doing, which will end up being feasibility work. And that's a pretty simple concept really. It's a central milling facility being supported by the deposits that we've discovered and are defining as we speak. So, it's pretty common for the sort of area we're operating in. So VMS deposits, as they're known, which are these base metal rich deposits. Quite often, you'll have a mill that's in a central location, and then these deposits are mined and provide the feed to that central milling facility.

Melissa Darmawan: Last question, Rob. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Rob Tyson: Look, I guess if investors are looking for a bet on copper, Peel's really well situated for that, and we're going to be delivering a lot of copper results over the coming months into the back end of this year. And then really our aim is to be completing feasibility study work and ideally lodging environmental impact statements and mining licence applications by the end of next year. So, the next nine months, abundant copper results and upgrades of resources, and the maiden resource for Wirlong. But all of that feeding into a development investment decision in the near future.

Melissa Darmawan: Rob Tyson, thanks for the update, and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Rob Tyson: Thanks, Melissa. Look forward to being back.

Ends
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