Ivanhoe Electric Announces Selection of Fluor Enterprises Inc. as the Principal Lead for the Santa Cruz Copper Project Preliminary Feasibility Study Infill Drilling Program at the Santa Cruz Copper Project is Substantially Complete, with 185 Development Drill Holes Totaling
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May 29, 2024
Ivanhoe Electric Announces Selection of Fluor Enterprises Inc. as
the Principal Lead for the Santa Cruz Copper Project Preliminary
Feasibility Study
Infill Drilling Program at the Santa Cruz Copper Project is
Substantially Complete, with 185 Development Drill Holes Totaling
133,000 Meters Completed Since the December 2022 Mineral
Resource Estimate
Current Drilling Focused on Hydrogeological Testwells to Support
Preliminary Feasibility Study
Recent Step-Out Drilling at the Verde Domain Identified Additional
High-Grade Copper Intercepts
Santa Cruz Copper Project Preliminary Feasibility Study On Track
for Completion by End of Q2 2025
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Ivanhoe Electric Inc. (“Ivanhoe Electric”) (NYSE American: IE;
TSX: IE) Executive Chairman Robert Friedland and President and Chief Executive
Officer Taylor Melvin are pleased to provide an update on recent progress at the Santa
Cruz Copper Project in Arizona, including drilling activities and the selection of external
consultants to advance the Project’s Preliminary Feasibility Study (“PFS”).
Mr. Melvin commented: “Selecting the lead external consultants for our Santa Cruz
Copper Project is a major milestone in the advancement of our modern, high-grade
underground copper project on private land in Arizona. We are excited to have Fluor, a
recognized global leader in the design, engineering and construction of high-quality
mining projects, lead a world-class team of experienced consultants to assist with our
Preliminary Feasibility Study. Our dedicated team of professionals continues to make
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significant progress at Santa Cruz. We remain on schedule to deliver the completed PFS
by the end of the second quarter in 2025.”
Ivanhoe Electric Selects Fluor Enterprises Inc. as Principal Lead and Processing
and Surface Infrastructure Lead, along with BBA USA Inc. as Mineral
Resource/Mineral Reserve and Mine Engineering Lead for the Santa Cruz Project
Preliminary Feasibility Study
Ivanhoe Electric has selected Fluor Enterprises Inc. ("Fluor") as the Lead Consultant for
the PFS, responsible for compiling and integrating the PFS workstreams. Fluor brings
exceptional expertise to the project as an industry-leading global engineering,
procurement, construction, and maintenance company with decades of experience in
mining and metals project development. Fluor's recent domestic projects include many
of America's largest copper mines by annual copper production.
In addition to Fluor, Ivanhoe Electric has selected the following consultants to lead
specific areas of the Santa Cruz Copper Project PFS:
• BBA USA Inc.: mineral resource, mineral reserve and mining methods
• Stantec: ventilation and refrigeration
• Call & Nicholas: geotechnical
• KCB Consultants Ltd.: tailings management
• INTERA Incorporated: hydrogeology
• Tetra Tech, Inc., Life Cycle Geo, LLC and Haley & Aldrich Inc.: social and
community impacts, environmental studies, and permitting
Santa Cruz infill drilling campaign is substantially complete, with 185
development drill holes totaling approximately 133,000 meters completed since
the December 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate
The Mineral Resource Estimate utilized for the Initial Assessment (“IA”) included 170
drill holes totaling 153,000 meters (refer to Ivanhoe Electric’s February 14, 2023 news
release). Since December 31, 2022, t he current date of the Mineral Resource Estimate
update announced on February 14, 2023, Ivanhoe Electric has completed an additional
185 drill holes totaling 133,000 meters, bringing total development drilling at the Project
to over 286,000 meters. The development drilling supports ongoing metallurgical
studies, geotechnical characterization, water management, and anticipated conversion
of mineral resources to mineral reserves.
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Highlights from recent development drilling include the following high-grade intercepts:
• SCC-189 intersected 89.00 meters @ 2.03% total copper from 575.00 meters,
including 47.34 meters @ 2.39% total copper from 575.00 meters
• SCC-197 intersected 152.60 meters @ 1.28% total copper from 616.00 meters,
including 50.54 meters @ 1.62% total copper from 626.00 meters
• SCC-199 intersected 117.00 meters @ 1.22% total copper from 539.00 meters,
including 21.00 meters @ 1.61% total copper from 550.00 meters
• SCC-208 intersected 181.81 meters @ 1.72% total copper from 781.36 meters,
including 43.81 meters @ 2.20% total copper from 891.13 meters
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Figure 1. Plan view map showing completed drill holes since the December 2022 Mineral
Resource Estimate used for the September 2023 Initial Assessment.
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Verde Domain step-out drill holes intersect high-grade copper mineralization and
extend the boundaries of the mineralized domain
The Verde Domain is a zone of high-grade soluble copper in mineralized Oracle Granite
within the Santa Cruz deposit. Recent assay results from Verde Domain step-out drill
holes SCC-192 and SCC-196 confirm the continuity of high-grade copper mineralization
to over 50 meters northeast from the nearest previous drill hole intersections.
• SCC-192 intersected 53.00 meters @ 2.04% total copper from 640.00 meters,
including 14.00 meters @ 2.43% total copper from 640.00 meters
• SCC-196 intersected 66.60 meters @ 1.53% total copper from 614.63 meters,
including 14.00 meters @ 2.35% total copper from 648.00 meters
Additionally, drillholes SCC-226 and SCC-230, which stepped out into the open
northwestern direction, intersected soluble copper mineralization of the Verde Domain.
Assay results are pending for SCC-226 and SCC-230.
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Photo 1: Drill core from Verde Domain drill hole SCC-226 at 635.60 meters showing
strong atacamite mineralization (a leachable mineral that is approximately 60% copper
by weight) along fractures and within open pockets as blades and rosettes. Assay
results for drill hole SCC-226 are pending.
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Figure 2. Drilling at the Verde Domain with recent step-out drill holes SCC-192, SCC-196,
SCC-226 and SCC-230.
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Exploration drilling resumes at the Santa Cruz Copper Project, focusing on the
Southwest Exploration and Texaco Areas
Initial drilling with one drill rig at the Southwest Exploration Area will explore between
the Santa Cruz Mineral Resource and drill hole SCC-098, which is located approximately
1 kilometer southwest of the Mineral Resource. Previous vertical drill hole SCC-098 was
designed to test a large Typhoon™ anomaly and intersected primary sulfide
mineralization within a new adjacent fault block at 1,059 meters depth in bedrock (refer
to Ivanhoe Electric’s November 29, 2022 news release). Exploration drilling at the
Southwest Exploration Area is designed to test for supergene enrichment of the
previously intersected primary sulfide mineralization, which may yield higher grades as
oxide and chalcocite copper mineralization at shallower depths than SCC-098.
After the Southwest Exploration Area, exploration drilling will resume at Texaco for the
first time since the summer of 2023. Our last exploration program in the Texaco Ridge
Exploration Area, guided by Typhoon™, intersected broad sulfide mineralization
comprising 327 meters grading 0.81% total copper in SCC-122 (refer to Ivanhoe
Electric’s January 8, 2024 news release). Fut ure exploration drilling around the Texaco
Mineral Resource is planned to step out from known mineralization and test for
additional enriched chalcocite and oxide mineralization to the north and east. Drilling
within the Texaco Mineral Resource will test between and below widely spaced drilling
to further define higher-grade mineralization.