The foundation of any mining investment is the orebody. This section sets out the geological setting, the indicative resource and reserve base used for modelling, the mining method and the production ramp. Consistent with the disclosure in the Important Notice, the resource and reserve figures are planning assumptions benchmarked to the Phalaborwa carbonatite district; a competent-person’s report and bankable feasibility study would form part of formal due diligence.

Geological setting

TerraNova’s deposit sits within the Phalaborwa Igneous Complex, a Palaeoproterozoic carbonatite intrusion that is among the most distinctive copper-bearing systems in the world. Unlike porphyry or sediment-hosted copper, the carbonatite hosts copper sulphides (chalcopyrite, bornite, cubanite) alongside magnetite, vermiculite (from phlogopite alteration), apatite, and a suite of accessory minerals including baddeleyite (zirconium) and precious metals. This unusual mineralogy is precisely what enables the polymetallic, by-product-rich revenue model: the same orebody that yields copper also yields vermiculite, magnetite, phosphate-bearing material and precious metals, so a single mining operation supports six revenue streams.

Indicative resource & reserve base

For modelling purposes the plan assumes a large, competent orebody consistent with the district’s known scale. The parameters below drive the production, depreciation and mine-life assumptions used throughout the financial model.

At nameplate the mine depletes roughly 14 million tonnes annually against a ~250-million-tonne reserve, a modest depletion rate that supports a long, ~18-year life and low units-of-production depreciation in the early years. This long-life profile is a key credit strength: it comfortably outlasts the debt tenor and provides collateral cover well beyond the projection horizon.

Mining method — underground block caving

Block caving is the lowest-cost underground bulk-mining method and the natural choice for a large, competent, relatively low-grade carbonatite orebody. Undercutting the base of the orebody induces controlled caving; broken ore is drawn through drawpoints to a materials-handling system and hoisted to surface. Once established, block caving delivers high, sustained production at low operating cost with a small surface footprint. Its drawbacks, high upfront capital, long development lead time (the cave must be established before meaningful production), and limited flexibility once caving begins, are the principal reasons the plan front-loads capital and shows early-year losses during establishment.

• Development: box-cut, decline and/or shaft, undercut level, extraction level and materials handling.
• Ramp profile: first ore in Year 1, building to nameplate 14 Mt/year by Year 5 as the cave matures.
• Automation: remotely operated LHDs and autonomous haulage reduce labour intensity and improve safety.

Production ramp

Ore throughput ramps from 4 Mt in Year 1 to 14 Mt at nameplate in Year 5, translating, at ~0.65% grade and ~86% recovery, into refined copper production climbing from roughly 22,000 tonnes to approximately 78,000 tonnes per year. The ramp is the single most important operational assumption in the plan: revenue, deleveraging and returns all depend on the cave being established and drawn to schedule. The implementation roadmap and risk section address the mitigants, experienced block-cave contractors, staged commissioning and contingency, in detail.

Mine design & materials handling

The mine is developed from surface via a combination of decline and shaft access, establishing an undercut level and an extraction level beneath the orebody. Broken ore reports to drawpoints, is loaded by remotely operated load-haul-dump units, and is conveyed to a crusher station before hoisting to surface for milling. Materials handling is the circulatory system of a block cave: its capacity, availability and automation determine sustainable throughput. The design therefore prioritises redundancy in crushing and conveying, remote and autonomous operation to improve safety and utilisation, and a ventilation and refrigeration system sized for the full 14 Mt/year at depth.

• Access: decline for equipment and personnel; shaft for high-volume ore hoisting.
• Caving: engineered undercut sequence to control cave propagation, dilution and subsidence.
• Ventilation: primary fans and refrigeration sized for depth, heat and diesel-to-electric fleet transition.

Metallurgy & processing recovery

Run-of-mine ore is crushed, milled and floated to produce a copper concentrate, with magnetite recovered magnetically and vermiculite separated in a dedicated circuit. The concentrate is smelted to blister and anode copper, then electro-refined to high-purity cathode, from which anode slimes yield precious metals. Overall copper recovery of approximately 86% reflects the sum of concentrator, smelter and refinery efficiencies; each percentage point of recovery is worth meaningful revenue at nameplate, so metallurgical optimisation is a continuous priority. Test-work to confirm flotation performance, concentrate grade and deleterious-element levels is a condition precedent to the bankable feasibility study.

Exploration & resource upside

The ~250-million-tonne figure used for modelling is a planning assumption; carbonatite systems of this type frequently extend at depth and along strike, and historical district production has repeatedly converted resources to reserves beyond original mine plans. A staged exploration and resource-definition programme, infill and step-out drilling, geophysics and metallurgical sampling, is expected to sustain or extend the mine life beyond the modelled ~18 years. For the purposes of this Plan no value is ascribed to this upside; it represents optionality rather than a base-case assumption, but it is material to the terminal value and to lenders’ comfort on tenor coverage.

Tailings & water management

Tailings are deposited in an engineered, continuously monitored storage facility designed to modern dam-safety standards, with progressive rehabilitation and, where feasible, reprocessing of magnetite from historical and current tailings, turning a liability into a co-product. Water is managed as a closed-loop system: process water is recycled, fresh-water draw is minimised, and stormwater is separated from contact water. In a water-stressed region, a credible water balance is both an environmental licence condition and an operational risk control, and is treated as such in the design.

Unit-cost position

The by-product-credited unit-cost position is central to the investment case. Modelled C1 cash cost rises from roughly US$0.67/lb to US$1.58/lb of copper across the ramp, and all-in sustaining cost (AISC) from US$0.68/lb to approximately US$1.72/lb, against a base-case copper price near US$5.44/lb (US$12,000/tonne). Even at the top of the modelled range, AISC leaves a wide margin, and the low absolute cost provides resilience through the copper price cycle. These costs reflect the substantial credits from vermiculite, magnetite, sulphuric acid and precious metals; a copper-only operation would show materially higher unit costs.