New study gives Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz copper project $1.4B value

A new preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for Ivanhoe Electric’s (TSX, NYSE: IE) Santa Cruz copper project in Arizona gives the proposed mine an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $1.4 billion at initial costs of $1.24 billion. Shares rose.

The underground mine could produce 72,000-tonnes of copper cathode annually during the first 15 years of a 23-year life and has an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20% at a base case of $4.25 per lb. copper, Ivanhoe said Monday. The NPV rises to $1.9 billion at the current Comex high-grade copper price of $4.83 per lb. and the IRR to 24%.

“Santa Cruz will mine the largest high-grade copper oxide orebody in America (…) which will be processed on-site by a new generation of skilled and highly paid American workers,” Ivanhoe Electric executive chair Robert Friedland said in a release.

“Santa Cruz will produce an LME Grade A 99.99% pure copper cathode product that will be ready for immediate sale to American industry from our mine gate.”

Santa Cruz, the company’s most advanced project, would help supply the green energy transition’s rising demand for copper, a critical mineral essential for electrical wiring.

Ivanhoe shares gained 4.1% to C$11.32 apiece on Monday morning in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$1.08 billion ($790 million). The stock has traded in a 12-month range of C$6.45 to C$16.50.

136M reserve tonnes

The PFS includes a significant enhancement to Santa Cruz’s resources, with probable reserves totalling 136 million tonnes grading 1.08% copper for 1.5 million contained tonnes, based on almost 120,000 metres of drilling across 149 holes.

Exclusive of reserves, Santa Cruz hosts 182.8 million indicated tonnes grading 0.81% copper for 1.4 million tonnes contained copper and 422 million inferred tonnes at 0.79% copper for 3.3 million contained tonnes.

Construction of the mine could start in the first half of next year, first copper cathode production in 2028 and full production in 2029. The PFS envisions the mine would use heap leach processing.

Production costs would amount to about $17,000 per tonne of copper, with global first-quartile cash costs of $1.32 per lb. over the mine’s life.

Located in Casa Grande, about 77 km south of Phoenix, Santa Cruz comprises 24.2 sq. km of private land, including its associated water rights. Last June, Ivanhoe secured approval to zone over half of the property for industrial use, a major permitting milestone for the proposed copper mine.