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CUU: To Update PEA at Van Dyke Prior to Advancing to PFS

What you need to know:
• Copper Fox announced plans to update the 2020 PEA on its Van Dyke ISCR project in Arizona.
• This updated PEA will drive the acceleration and accuracy of studies required to advance the project towards the PFS stage.
• On November 19th, CUU’s geophysics program outlined a 4.4km open chargeability corridor at Eaglehead, highlighting new targets.
• On October 28th, CUU began maiden drilling at Mineral Mountain, testing a large Cu Mo system and chargeability anomaly.

This morning, Copper Fox Metals Inc. (CUU:TSXV, CPFXF:OTC) provided an update on plans to advance its 100% owned Van Dyke in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) project to the PFS stage. In today’s release, the Company has stated it plans to update the 2020 PEA, incorporating results of studies completed since 2021 to provide a more up-to-date status of the project. The results of the PEA are intended to provide investors with more up-to-date pricing and costs for the proposed project, as well as help contribute to optimizing the timelines, activities, and estimated costs to advance the project to the PFS stage. We view this updated PEA as a major catalyst, as the 2020 study was done at much lower copper price estimates, and it could also help accelerate the development of the project. We are maintaining our BUY rating and target price of C$0.60/share on CUU.

Within the update, the Company stated that it is exploring available options for non-dilutive funding prior to initiating the PFS-level activities. Additionally, it provided an update on all the initiatives performed since the 2020 PEA, highlighting the large amounts of data already collected that will contribute to PFS-level work (found in the press release here). Currently, the Company is in the permitting process with the Town of Miami to conduct future diamond drilling and is working on completing a preliminary groundwater flow model for the project.

We remind readers that the Van Dyke ISCR project is located in Arizona’s Globe-Miami mining district and is an alternative to conventional mining, which eliminates the need for open-pit development or tailings storage, offering lower environmental impact and faster permitting potential. The project is highly profitable with the 2020 PEA outlining a 17-year mine life with an after-tax NPV7.5% of $645M, IRR of 43.4%, and a 2.1-year payback, using $3.15/lb copper (well below spot prices). Initial capex is also low at $291M. We will note, at a higher copper price of $3.65/lb, the NPV7.5%, increased to $830M, highlighting substantial upside to a rising copper price (spot copper price is currently $5.40/lb).