Mining giant Rio Tinto has made a promising discovery two kilometres east of the Winu copper-gold deposit in Western Australia to help boost new supplies of the red metal.
While the world’s number two miner will keep drilling and geophysical testing at the site, new figures suggest an inferred mineral resource of 503M tonnes of ore grading at 0.45% copper equivalent.
Rio has been investing heavily in copper in the past two years as it believes the market will soon go into deficit amid expectations that bigger power grids around the world and an electric-vehicle boom will boost demand, while supply faces ongoing challenges.
Chief Financial Officer, Jakob Stausholm, confirmed Rio’s focus on the red metal, noting that most of the exploration expenditure was going towards the commodity.
Rio Tinto’s plan is for a small scale open cut mine at the Winu deposit, with first production, subject to necessary approvals, expected by 2023.
There is further potential for even more discoveries within the Winu project as Rio Tinto has only explored 2% of its tenements in the region so far.
“We’re taking a more agile and innovative approach at Winu,” Rio Tinto group executive of growth and innovation and health, safety and environment (HSE) Stephen McIntosh said.
“We are working on the studies for a small-scale start up operation focussed on Winu’s higher-grade core as we take another step towards commercialising this deposit.