carrapateena no sure thing

key points- 5 years of expensive exploration to determine if the Carapateena is viable (which is looking at unlikely)
in the coontext of Ozl's exploration track record....

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/businessold/carrapateena-no-sure-thing/story-e6frfh4f-1226018625421

If all goes well, OZ might be able to extend its mine life at Prominent Hill through its current intensive exploration efforts and use its strong cash flows to finance the development of Carrapateena "down the road" towards Port Augusta.

The danger of this approach is not hard to find, with Carrapateena's cylindrical ore body being a hefty 470 metres below the surface and extending at least a further kilometre.

While the ore is very similar to that found at Prominent Hill, Carrapateena will be an entirely underground mine using block caving methods, which makes the copper more expensive to extract.

The contained uranium could also prove to be an irritant rather than a bonus, depending on the grade and ease of extraction.

OZ will take about three years before it will have a mineral resource and about five years before it will have a full feasibility study to plan a mine.

The economics of Carrapateena will then be apparent for all, with the main determinant being the copper price in 2016, which is anyone's guess.