THE NEXT WAVE OF COPPER PRODUCERS

COPPER, WHICH HAS BEEN USED BY HUMANITY FOR MORE THAN 10,000 YEARS, IS NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER AS A VITAL COMPONENT FOR THE ENERGY TRANSITION.

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Australia’s copper mining landscape is experiencing a dynamic transformation, with emerging projects across South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland poised to help meet the escalating global demand for this essential metal.

These developments underscore Australia’s pivotal role in the global copper industry.

South Australia

BHP’s Oak Dam deposit, located approximately 65km south-east of the company’s Olympic Dam project 560km north of Adelaide, is emerging as a significant iron oxide copper-gold mineralised system.

“Exploration undertaken to date has indicated the presence of high-grade copper and associated minerals that may be economically viable to mine,” BHP said.

“Further exploration is required to better define the resource and enable BHP to make decisions about possible future development activity.”

The major miner has applied to the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining to seek approval for a retention lease and miscellaneous purposes licences.

More than 500km south of Oak Dam lies the Hillside project, recently purchased by MACH Metals Australia in its $265 million acquisition of Rex Minerals and recognised as one of Australia's largest undeveloped copper projects.

Situated on the Yorke Peninsula in SA, Hillside boasts a mineral resource of 1.9 million tonnes (Mt) of copper and 1.5 million ounces of gold.

The project involves the development of an open-pit mine and associated processing plant and infrastructure to mine and process the ore before shipping marketable concentrates.

MACH managing director Ferdian Purnamasidi expressed his excitement about the acquisition of Rex and Hillside.

“We are excited to acquire and continue the development of the Hillside project, which aligns with our strategy to diversify our asset portfolio,” Purnamasidi said.