Under the agreement, Austral will acquire 100 percent of Noranda Pacific, the owner and operator of the Lady Loretta mine, associated EPMs, processing infrastructure and mining camp from Glencore.
“The acquisition of Lady Loretta consolidates the position around Lady Annie and provides both short-term ore supply from the cut and longer-term ore supply from mineralization expansion,” said Austral chairman David Newling.
“Importantly, the transaction is structured to significantly strengthen our balance sheet while retaining a substantial development advantage,” he added.
It was also agreed that Austral Glencore will pay a net smelter fee of 2.5 per cent on all copper oxides and copper sulphides produced from the tenements.
Lady Loretta is located approximately 150 kilometers northwest of Mount Isa and 16 kilometers north of the Lady Annie copper mine in Queensland.
It has been in production since 2012, with a historical production record of 1.6 million tons per year.
Zinc lead ore from Lady Loretta is sent to Mount Isa for processing.
“With the three key pillars of our consolidation strategy completed, our focus turns to disciplined execution, advancing the near-mining opportunities at Lady Annie, advancing Rocklands towards a 2027 restart and building (including through mergers and acquisitions) a long-term, multi-asset copper operating capacity of producing approximately 50,000 tonnes of copper metal per annum in North West Queensland.”
Austral will assume responsibility for operations at Lady Loretta and its progressive rehabilitation obligations.
Completion of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of various conditions. Mining during the Lady Annie cut is expected to start in the second quarter of 2026.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, have no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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