Auking Mining Limited commenced a Scoping Study to assess the development of an open-pit and underground operation at the Sandiego deposit at its flagship Koongie Park copper/zinc project in north-eastern Western Australia. Wave International has been engaged to assist with the preparation of the Study which will consider all proposed aspects of a proposed mine development and is expected to be completed by the end of March 2023. The Study will form a "base case" scenario that involves a combined open pit and underground mining operation at Sandiego and will include the following aspects: Preliminary mine planning, Project design, Preliminary processing flowsheets, Concept layouts, Mechanical equipment requirements, Capex/Opex estimates, High level economic assessment.
In addition, consideration will be given to nearby deposits with similar mineralogy that are likely to process via flotation techniques these include the following options:, Additional resources (at depth) at Sandiego, Emull deposit, Mt Angelo North (CAZ asset see MoU details below), Bommie (CAZ asset see MoU below) The intention with these additional deposits is to create an optimal economic mine development case utilising deposits that are all situated within a radius of approximately 10kms from the Sandiego deposit. There is already a substantial body of available study and technical data for Sandiego, based on the prefeasibility work undertaken several years ago by Astral Resources . This material will be referred to for the purposes of the Scoping Study wherever possible.