The episode begins with the host welcoming guest Paul Renkin on Monday, November 24th. They start with the biggest news: Harmony Gold's final investment decision to develop the Ava open-pit copper deposit in Australia. The project's capital expenditure is estimated at $1.5 to $1.75 billion U.S. dollars. It will be assisted by a solar farm, battery storage, and modular diesel generators. Anticipated production is around 65,000 tons per year of copper in concentrate. The internal rate of return is about 11%, based on copper at $4.50 per pound and gold at $22 per ounce, which are lower than current prices. The mine life is expected to exceed 15 years, with a build-out time of approximately 27 months to first production. This marks the start of a pipeline in Australia for Harmony, following their recent acquisition of Mac copper. The discussion then shifts to Aterian, which reported sales of 72,500 tons of phosphate concentrate for the period, a 28% increase quarter-on-quarter. September was a record month with 34,000 tons produced. Despite this, Aterian's share price is down 68% year-to-date, with a market cap of just £8 million, though it has been in a narrow range since February. The episode concludes with an update from Celsius Resources on their Maya Lanao Cagatan copper-gold project in the Philippines. The update shows a global mineral resource of 343 million tons at 0.46% copper and 0.12 g/t gold. This represents an additional 5 million tons containing 14,000 tons of copper compared to their 2022 estimate. The measured category is 49 million tons at 0.6% copper and 0.19 g/t gold, suggesting commercial viability. The host thanks Paul, and they plan to return tomorrow. The podcast ends with a disclaimer that it is for information purposes only and not investment advice.
