Transition Resources is a research-focused private explorer building a significant resource inventory in north-west Queensland.
Its first phase of mining plans will target select areas of its growing resources for early development, including two new open-pit mining operations south-west of Cloncurry.
With a focus on earnings per share, Transition is prioritising profitable resources over big resources through a two-phase development model aimed at early revenue.
The company said it can do this because its new discoveries are high-grade and can be monetised quickly through open-pit mining methods, toll-treating at third-party mills, and minimal up-front capital expense.
Order of magnitude studies by Transition, for internal guidance and viability assessment, indicate pre-tax free cashflow of $190 million is possible from its first phase, first four-years of concurrent mining.
“These early studies are incredibly detailed, so we are confident they will hold their value through independent confirmation to pre-feasibility level. They indicate a robust project is coming,” Transition founder and managing director David Wilson said.
The two new mines include very different metal suites. The first mine, the Duck Creek copper project, will focus on sulphide copper ore which will be toll-treated at one of several local mills.
The second mine, the Highway gold project will focus on gold and critical metals, to be recovered to a pre-concentrate through a new, skid-mounted gravity plant.
In addition to gold, the pre-concentrate would potentially include payments for tungsten, magnet rare earths, and cobalt.
While the new mines progress, Transition said it will continue to build a much larger resource base to support its planned longer-term, second phase operations.
“It’s a different approach to what investors typically see in this space, especially for a small-cap private explorer,” Wilson said.
“But everything about Transition is different; from its research programmes and first greenfield discoveries in the Cloncurry District in decades, to its focus on future earnings per share – operational bookends rarely embraced by small explorers.”
Transition has built itself a strong tenement position of 1100 square kilometres in the Cloncurry region of Queensland, and its Duck Creek and Highway projects are generating interest for their new, high-grade, multi-commodity discoveries.
Through these new discoveries, its research and development programs, and holistic approach to creating a successful resources business, Transition is quietly building a reputation as a credible thought leader.
Transition anticipates publishing a research paper on its Cloncurry discoveries in late 2024.
“Our new discoveries offer robust opportunities to generate returns for a range of stakeholders, which in addition to our shareholders, includes our staff and personnel, indigenous and pastoral landowners, and local communities and businesses,” Wilson said.
“It also includes the end users of our metals, and of course the state and federal governments, through royalties and taxes.
“The environment benefits too, not only because the metals from these mines are crucial to a low carbon future, but because our preference to utilise existing processing facilities where possible, instead of building new ones, significantly reduces environmental footprints.”
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