Base metals miner Hudbay Minerals is looking to initiate a minority joint venture (JV) partner process for its Copper World project, in the US, which will allow the potential partner to participate in the design and funding of definitive feasibility studies next year.

The JV partner process will be initiated once the final permits for the project have been received, the company said on Wednesday.

In a permitting update, Hudbay reported that it expected to be awarded the final two permits – an aquifer protection permit and an air quality permit – this year.

State permitting for the Copper World project, in Arizona, was initiated in June 2021 with the submission of Hudbay’s mined land reclamation plan, which has been approved.

In April last year, Hudbay surrendered the 404 permit to the Army Corps of Engineers as there is no evidence of jurisdictional waters of the US on the former Rosemont project site. A judge from the US District Court for the District of Arizona has affirmed the surrender of the 404 permit and that the new Copper World project is not connected to the previous federal permitting process.

In January this year, Hudbay received an approved right-of-way from the Arizona State Land Department that will allow for infrastructure, such as roads, pipelines and powerlines, to connect between the properties in the company’s private land package at Copper World.

Phase 1 of Copper World reflects a 16-year standalone operation with processing infrastructure on Hudbay’s private lands and mining occurring on patented mining claims, requiring only state and local permits. Copper World will only venture onto federal land in the second phase.

Prefeasibility activities for Phase 1 are well-advanced and a prefeasibility study is expected to be released in mid-2023.

The June 2022 preliminary economic assessment details a Phase 1 operation that will produce 86 000 t/y at cash costs and sustaining cash costs of $1.15/lb and $1.44/lb respectively. This phase includes a 60 000 t/d sulphide concentrator, a 20 000 t/d oxide heap leach, a solvent extraction and electrowinning facility and a concentrate leach facility with an initial capital cost estimate of about $1.9-billion.

The concentrator is intended to expand to 90 000 t/d in Phase 2. The processing facilities will have a production capacity of 100 000 t/y of copper cathode during Phase 1, expanding to 125 000 t/y of copper cathode during Phase 2.

In Phase 2, the mine life will be extended to 44 years with average copper production of 101 000 t/y at cash costs and sustaining cash costs of $1.11/lb and $1.42/lb copper, respectively.

Upon receipt of the state level permits, the company expects to conduct a bulk sampling programme to continue to derisk the project by testing grade continuity, variable cut-off effectiveness and metallurgical strategies.