Name of the Project
Copperwood project.

Location
Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in the US.

Project Owner/s
Vancouver-based Highland Copper’s US subsidiary Copperwood Resources.

Project Description
The project comprises the Copperwood and Satellite deposits.

The project envisages an estimated 11-year operation averaging payable copper production of 64.6-million pounds a year and payable silver production of 106 966 oz/y. 

Life-of-mine production is estimated at 300 000 t of copper and 1.1-million ounces of silver.

Room-and-pillar mining methods will be used given the relatively subhorizontal orebody that varies in thickness from 1.6 m to 3.7 m.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax internal rate of return of 17.6% with a net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $222-million before taxes and $168-million after taxes. Payback is estimated at 3.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital is estimated at $391-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Commissioning and plant ramp-up will take place during the first quarter of 2026.

Latest Developments
Highland Copper Company is undertaking an integrated mine plan review and optimisation works towards an updated feasibility study.

The company is evaluating lower cutoff grades to expand the mineable resources on site, a simplified process flowsheet for increased recoveries and bulk ore sorting technologies to potentially incorporate the Upper Copper Bearing Sequence resource.

The results of current optimisation work, including previous process plant redesign work, are expected to be incorporated into an updated feasibility study, which, in turn, will support project development planning and financing initiatives.

The lower cutoff grades are based on a long-term copper price of about $4.80/lb, with the potential to convert additional measured and indicated mineral resources into mineable reserves.

Highland has indicated that the Upper Copper Bearing Sequence resource hosts 10.2-million tonnes grading 1.1% copper in the measured and indicated category, which, through ore sorting technologies being evaluated, can increase operational flexibility and expand the project's economic resources base.

Meanwhile, updated geotechnical interpretations, combined with conventional room-and-pillar mining methods, might allow for the optimisation of mining heights and pillar dimensions while allowing for dilution to be sourced from the mineralised hanging wall rather than the floor, Highland has stated.

The updated feasibility study is also expected to incorporate a simplified process flowsheet that is designed to reduce secondary milling requirements, lower energy and reagent costs, decrease plant footprint and, most importantly, increase copper recoveries to 87.6%, compared to 86% envisioned in the original 2023 feasibility study.

The study is planned to be published in the first quarter of 2027.

Front-end engineering design is advancing towards 40% this year, which will further ready Copperwood for project financing and technical due diligence activities.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
GMS (overall report and feasibility study coordination, property description and location, accessibility, history, geological setting and mineralisation, deposit types, exploration, drilling, sample preparation and security, data verification, mineral resource estimates, mineral reserves, mining methods, economic analysis, operating costs, infrastructure, power supply, capital cost estimate and project execution plan); SGS Canada Inc. (Lakefield) (mineral test work; Lycopodium (sheet, mass balance, recovery methods, mineral process plant design and input operating and capital cost estimates for the process plant); Golder Associates (rock mechanics and underground geotechnical assessment, water balance, water treatment design and tailings disposal facility design); Foth Infrastructure & Environment (environmental, permitting and social aspects); and DRA Americas (FEED).

Contact Details for Project Information
Highland Copper, tel +1 450 677 2455 or email info@highlandcopper.com.