Omico is a joint venture between Greenstone Resources LP, a private equity fund specialising in the mining and metals sector, and International Base Metals Limited, an Australian natural resources public company.
IBML owns 46.3% of Omico Copper Limited, based in Mauritius, which in turn owns 95% of Craton Mining and Exploration (Pty) Ltd in Namibia.
Craton Mining and Exploration (Pty) Ltd, holds mining licenses ML197 and EPL 8550 and a 30,000-ha license area that makes up the Omitiomire Copper Project.
The mining license is valid until March 2036.
The deal hammered in December 2019 stipulated that Greenstone would earn 51% of Craton in return for completing a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) with a minimum expenditure of US$5 million.
After the BFS, and assuming it meets the required future investment hurdles, IBML could have the option to either sell its remaining equity in Craton to Greenstone for US$7.5m plus a 1.5% NSR royalty or invest in the future project to the extent of its equity holding.
Greenstone is the manager of Omico, which holds 95% of the Craton Project, with the Craton Foundation Trust holding the remaining 5%.
Crafton has been exploring since 2007. Most of the deposit is in the form of copper sulphides, containing high proportions of copper and low proportions of sulphur.
The copper sulphides have been oxidised near the surface and at depth next to significant fractures and fault lines.
The oxidised copper ores make up approximately 15% of the total deposit.
The Omitiomire Project has the potential to be a long-life, low-capital-intensive project with an unconstrained measured and indicated resource of 95.8 million tons at 0.59% total copper for 563,300 t of copper (0.25% Cu cut-off grade).
The development base case anticipates producing 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes per annum of LME Grade A copper cathode for at least 10 years, targeting only open-pit mineralisation.
The Omitiomire Copper Project area is 120 km east of Windhoek in central Namibia. It is outside of national parks, heritage-listed areas, groundwater-controlled areas, or Namibian areas of significance.
The environmental and social impact assessment methodology applied to the permitting process follows Namibian law and international and national best practices.
It has been developed using the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) standards and models, ensuring the project’s minimal environmental impact.
The company is making significant strides in advancing the Omitiomire Copper Project Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS), expected to be completed in H2 2024.
The expected BFS outcomes, with a revised processing approach, include post-tax NPV8 of USD175 million, 18% IRR, with a capital intensity of USD14,100/t copper (including mining fleet), C1 costs of USD4,700/t Cu, and AISC of USD5,520/t Cu.
The company assumes that production will be 25–30 ktpa Cu cathode, with a mine life of 13–15 years and preproduction capital of US$360 million.
The average life-of-mine sustaining capital is assumed to be US$10 million per annum, with an average operational capital of US$4,650 per ton of copper and a plant capacity of 6.7 Mtpa.
In August 2014, Bloy Resource Evaluation provided an updated resource estimate of 137 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.54% copper at a cut-off grade of 0.25% Cu.
The Measured and Indicated categories constitute 71% of the deposit.
In June 2022, MJO Ingeniería y Consultores en Metalurgia SpA estimated the project’s resource at 95.8 million tonnes, 0.59% total copper in the measured and indicated categories, and 9.7 million metric tons, 0.57% in the inferred category.
On May 12, 2023, Omico Mining Corp announced the formation of a Peer Review Group consisting of experienced technical professionals independent from the project team for the Omitiomire Copper Project.
The Peer Review Group has been formed to provide Greenstone Resources, the company’s controlling shareholder, with an independent view on the robustness and adequacy of technical data and the resulting assumptions generated by the project team responsible for the Omitiomire Copper Project.
The Peer Review Group will also provide independent technical advice to the project team, support related decision-making, test ideas, and brainstorm value-enhancing initiatives.
Anglo American discovered the deposit in the early 1990s, and IBML acquired Craton and funded >$15 million of exploration in 2008.
Greenstone investment came in 2019, and in 2022, Omico Mining Corp. was formed with a new senior management team to reinvigorate the project.
