The proposed Whim Creek Project will consist of a crushing and ore sorting infrastructure, a new 400,000 tonnes per annum concentrator and a refurbished heap leach facility capable of treating oxide, transitional and supergene ore. Its strategic location and capacity to treat various types of ore, makes Whim Creek ideally suited to become a base metal processing hub servicing the Western Pilbara.
In March 2024, Anax and its Joint Venture partner, Develop Global Limited (DVP), announced that commencement of a scoping study that will investigate the feasibility of transporting oxide ores from Develop’s 100%-owned Sulphur Springs deposit to Whim Creek, where ore may be heap leached to produce saleable copper and zinc products. The investigation will exclude ore that forms part of DVP’s Definitive Feasibility Study Reserves and Production Target announced in June 2023. The Sulphur Springs Zinc-Copper project is located 115 km south-east of Port Hedland and 150 km east-southeast of Whim Creek.
Location of Whim Creek and Sulphur Springs
In May 2024, Anax and GreenTech Metals Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which sets out the terms on which Anax and GreenTech agree to jointly assess the potential to treat GreenTech base metal assets, with a focus on the open-pittable Whundo deposit, at the fully-permitted Whim Creek Processing hub. Whundo is located 100 km west-southwest of Whim Creek and 40 km south of Karratha. Transaction options being considered include (without limitation) an outright asset sale/purchase agreement, joint venture or joint mining and funding agreements.
Location of the Whim Creek and Whundo Projects
The Whim Creek heap leach operation produced circa 15,000 tpa of copper cathode between 2003 and 2008. The new Whim Creek concentrator is forecast to produce 10 to 12 ktpa Copper Equivalent as copper, zinc and lead concentrates. By fully utilising its processing capacity, the Whim Creek hub could become a substantial West-Australian copper and base metal producer with a potential production profile of 20 to 30 ktpa copper equivalent and a potential mine-life greater than 10 years.
Whim Creek - Processing Hub with Sorting, Concentrator and Heap Leach Facilities
WHIM CREEK PROCESSING HUB – CENTRE OF THE PILBARA BASE METALS PROVINCE
- Planned and existing Infrastructure is ideally suited for a regional processing hub
- Whim Creek will have the facilities to treat oxide, transitional and primary sulphide ores from surrounding orebodies
- Regional satellite underground or open pit mines with ore sorting infrastructure could provide preconcentrates to the Whim Creek Processing Hub
THE ANAX FLOWSHEET – USING TECHNOLOGY TO DELIVER A ROBUST PROJECT
Two Parallel Process Streams
- Whim Creek - fully permitted site with near-term production potential
- Whim Creek has the unique ability to treat primary and secondary ore (mitigating metallurgical risk)
- Low Capex development option by using concentrator and heap
- Tailings disposal solution with low environmental risk
- Potential for Project funding under larger Whim Creek Project
- Minimal corporate risk to externals