JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The immediate target of new Copper 360 CEO Graham Briggs is 5 000 t of copper in six to 12 months.

Based on current assessments, Briggs is of the firm belief that, within that period, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange AltX-listed Copper 360 can be at a level of 40 000 t of copper ore a month at a grade of 1%, which implies the annualised 5 000 t production level.

"This is where the CEO makes these promises and everyone in the organisation is either glad or worried about what I'm saying. But I think we all agree on this, that sort of progress in the next six to 12 months, we need to get to that 40 000 t of ore at 1%. Yes, there's huge potential beyond that – but that requires more planning. For now it’s 5 000 t of copper in six to 12 months,” Briggs outlined to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview on Tuesday, June 10. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Meanwhile, the former Harmony Gold Mining Company CEO is over the moon about Copper 360's very distinctive multi-asset resource base, which has surprised him on the upside.

“It's got a suite of very promising orebodies. When I look at them, I'm actually surprised how great these orebodies are.

"There's also the metallurgical capacity and the multi-mine operational model strategy. We’re not just here to mine – we’re here to grow smartly, build sustainably, and deliver value to our investors. This is a new chapter for Copper 360. We have work to do – but the vision is clear, and the opportunity is real,” an upbeat Briggs enthused.

Copper 360 is currently advancing the Rietberg mine - operating one metallurgical plant, while two others remain near complete - and is intent on bringing at least two additional orebody projects into production to establish sustainable operational momentum.

The well-progressing Rietberg core asset is set to enable Copper 360 to reach its immediate target levels.

The two additional plants and the two additional projects are earmarked to provide advantageous flexibility that the multi-mine operational model enables.

“I’m very aware that many of our stakeholders – investors, partners, communities, and the broader public – are both curious and, in some cases, concerned about the company’s future.

“There’s been commentary portraying Copper 360 as a struggling or failing mining company. Let me be clear: this is not an accurate reflection of who we are in Copper 360 because we’re a resource-rich, lightly-capitalised exploration company that has only recently begun its transition to production, starting with the development of the Rietberg mine.

“Copper 360 mines are unlike a typical South African view of a mine. We’re not built on a single, massive orebody with decades-long mine life and deep-shaft infrastructure. Instead, we hold multiple well-drilled, high-potential, much smaller copper orebodies,” Briggs explained.

Mining Weekly: What sort of growth pattern is Copper 360 likely to have under your leadership?

Briggs: The vision is actually quite clear. It's actually been talked about in the past, but not well conceptualised. It’s really a multi-mine strategy. We’ve got a series of small to medium-sized mining operations that feed into a centralised processing facility. Some of these were mined in the past, so we know a lot about the orebodies. They've been accessed via adits and declines. In some cases, openpits are a possibility. They're going to be flexible. We're going to end up with relocatable infrastructure and a model that's well suited to our terrain and certainly the distribution of the orebodies. They're well distributed around the region. The individual mines will have shorter life spans than we’re used to but we may extend their orebodies either laterally or down dip. But the model provides us agility, scalability and we need that sort of difference of mindsets in Copper 360 and probably in the broader industry. So, a multi-mine company growing tonnage, growing production. The number of suppliers will change, increasing market capital, hopefully will happen, but it requires flexibility in our model, flexibility for everybody, basically, and we may have to close little mines down or change our assets as we look at the development of these assets. To succeed, we need a stakeholder ecosystem that's agile and responsive to that sort of multi-mine operating model.

In the immediate future, the very short term, what direction will Copper 390 likely be taking?

We've been advancing Rietberg. I think it really started probably in about August last year. It's progressing well. It becomes a core asset for us to reach our target levels. At the same time, we've got one operating metallurgical plant, two others which are not operating yet, but near completion, they require some finance to finish them and get them into production. Those two additional plants need to be brought into production, and then in the immediate future, we need two additional projects and we need to bring those into production as well. That will give us flexibility so that if, for instance, Rietberg has a few issues and we need to reduce production slightly, then we've got other projects that can fill the gap, so to speak. In this sort of strategy, and I need to be frank with everyone, we need to invest significant capital into it to bridge that gap, to get that resource base into production. That's obviously the challenge that we have. But in the immediate future, we've got some great assets and advancing nicely.