Transcription of The Stock Network Interview with Tennant Minerals (ASX:TMS), General Manager Chris Ramsay
Lel Smits: Tenant Minerals has completed diamond drilling at its Bluebird copper gold discovery in the Northern Territory, targeting a high-grade gold zone beneath the open-pit mineral resource. The program aims to extend gold mineralisation and generate core for metallurgical optimisation. I’m joined today by Tenant Minerals General Manager Chris Ramsey to discuss the next phase at Bluebird. Chris, welcome back to the Stock Network.
Chris Ramsay: Thanks, Lel. Pleasure to be here and good to see you again.
Lel Smits: Great to have you back on. Now, can you outline what makes the under-drilled gold zone beneath the current resource at your Bluebird copper gold discovery a compelling near-term growth target?
Chris Ramsay: Well, I think, as the market can well appreciate, extending the gold resource at Bluebird, along with gold-specific test work, really adds value, specifically metal endowment, firstly, but also in optimising the extraction pathways. These are critical to exposing new value there.
So listeners will be well aware of the progressing joint processing pre-feasibility study, which by definition, gold is actually a co-product. However, the way the market is right now, gold is actually now a key or a dominant value driver for the mining and processing of Bluebird. Having said that, copper is well experiencing a demand surge, which in light of the global demand for electrification, has an equally bright future and of course, a core value driver for Bluebird.
Bluebird’s real advantage in the region and in the alliance is that it’s shallow and it’s previously unmined. So it’s ready and waiting for the now emerging development pathway.
Lel Smits: Excellent. And really, when it comes to development and processing, how do improved metallurgy current gold prices and the Tenant Creek Alliance support Bluebird’s development potential?
Chris Ramsay: Well, the improved metallurgy really allows for greater accuracy in the forecasting of the metal recovery. Of course, that’s why we do it. And it also allows for enhanced specification when it comes to milling and processing design work.
All these items really tighten up the capital estimate and the OPEX estimate, which, of course, is how we define any value in the project. And the recent corporate developments in the Tenant Creek area, specifically the recently disclosed and ongoing Emerson transaction, clearly indicate that the surge and development of the region has really kicked off. So it’s all systems go in the Tenant Creek mineral field, which is really exciting.
Lel Smits: Yeah, that’s great to hear. And I do appreciate the update from you, Chris, on Tenant Minerals.
Chris Ramsay: Thank you very much.
Ends