Thor Energy granted key environmental approvals for Kapunda copper
Published by Will Owen,
Editor
Global Mining Review,
The directors of Thor Energy Plc have announced that the Government of South Australia has approved the first stage of in-groundwork on the Kapunda copper in-situ recovery (ISR) project, South Australia. This approval was submitted by EnviroCopper Ltd (ECL), in which Thor owns 30% of the issued share capital of ECL.
Highlights:
- This phase of work – site environmental lixiviant test (SELT) will be a push/pull trial, involving mixing a biodegradable solution, called a lixiviant, with groundwater for placement within the copper orebody.
- The lixiviant will reside in-situ for a period while being sampled and monitored, it will then be extracted, and the site rehabilitated.
- The push/pull trial will commence in late September 2023.
- The SELT will provide key information on the ISR assessment including copper dissolution, copper recovery, hydrogeological parameters, and rehabilitation data to identify the next major stage of fieldwork to be conducted, which will be a circulation trial scheduled for the early stages of 2024.
- This is a key environmental approval from the Government of South Australia.
- This project is a joint venture between ECL and Terramin Australia Ltd, Thor’s interest is via its 30% equity in ECL.
Nicole Galloway Warland, Managing Director of Thor Energy, comments:
“Thor is pleased that the Government of South Australia awarded a key environmental approval to advance the Kapunda Copper ISR Project.
“This in-situ lixiviant SELT test is a critical step in the assessment of the ISR process, determining the copper solubility hence recovery, as well as hydrogeological parameters from the Kapunda copper mineralisation.
“We believe that the work by ECL will complement our longer-term focus on the green energy transition. The recent addition of copper to the critical minerals list by the Government of South Australia reiterates the importance of copper in driving the global transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy.
“The Government of South Australia implemented a copper strategy in 2016 with the aim of trebling copper production by 2030, so we are confident our strategy combined with the work being carried out by ECL will align with their objective.
“We look forward to updating the market on the development of the Kapunda Project.”
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/14092023/thor-energy-granted-key-environmental-approvals-for-kapunda-copper/
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