maroochydore

Here is a little more information on the Maroochydore copper deposit from Strait Resources (the previous owners) 2001 Annual report. Strait Resources subsequently sold Maroochydore in 2002 for $10 million AUD due to financial difficulties and the low price of copper at the time, i.e. 0.75$/lb. The price of cobalt was approximately $7/lb. Todays prices are: copper 3.9$/lb, cobalt $50/lb.

Maroochydore
The Maroochydore copper-cobalt project,
in which the company holds a 50% equity,
is located in the East Pilbara of West Australia,
92 kilometres south-east of the Nifty Copper
Operation and approximately 380 kilometres
east of Port Hedland.
The deposit is the second most important
copper accumulation presently known in the
Paterson Province. The known resource lies
within a 2.5km long zone that is still open to
the north and south. Mineralisation has been
intersected in drilling over a 5km strike length
and the resource is likely to be significantly
expanded by further drilling.
The deposit lies under a shallow Permian
cover sequence in a similar setting to the Nifty
deposit, hosted in black shales and dolomitic
sediments at the base of the Broadhurst
Formation. Mineralisation is predominantly flat
lying with an internal higher-grade zone with
a north-south strike. The upper portions
contain predominantly malachite mineralisation
that grades downwards into a secondary
zone of chalcocite. Low-grade chalcopyrite
mineralisation has been intersected at depth
and potential exists for discovery of a
high-grade sulphide deposit like that at Nifty.
The current Maroochydore Resource is:
¡Ý 51Mt @ 1.0% Cu and 0.04% Co
at a 0.5% Cu cut-off.
Feasibility studies to examine the development
of Maroochydore will be undertaken as part
of the Nifty feasibility study. The study will
examine the benefits to be derived from
the Nifty Mine from various processing
and infrastructure alternatives prior to further
drilling to increase the confidence in the
resource and its exploration potential.