Osisko Metals (TSXV: OM; US-OTC: OMZNE) is advancing the giant Gaspé copper project in Quebec with an economic study planned for February amid efforts to land a 20% partnership with provincial financing agency Investissement Québec.
“No promises, but they’re interested in the project, and for us it would be ideal to get IQ as a partner,” CEO and chairman Robert Wares said in an interview. “That would be a big boost, and as partners obviously they can help us fund the whole project to a final investment decision.”
Wares figures that reopening the former Noranda mine, about 575 km northeast of Quebec City, could see it become the biggest undeveloped copper asset east of the Mississippi. It could cost $1.8 billion in initial capital spending, he said. The Copper Mountain deposit at the site holds 495 million indicated tonnes grading 0.3% copper, 0.016% molybdenum and 1.75 grams silver per tonne, Osisko said on May 6.
The resource contains 3.2 billion lb. copper, 180 million lb. molybdenum and 27.9 million oz. silver. It could be shovel-ready in early 2029 after acquiring permits by the end of 2028, said the CEO, who was part of the developers of the Canadian Malartic gold mine. That producer, now held by Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM), is vying to be Canada’s largest.
Wares is bullish on rising copper demand and the lack of adequate new supply to feed global electrification efforts. Developing a project in a jurisdiction with straightforward permitting requirements is also a plus.
