New World Resources has what most juniors want – high-grade, near-term production in a hot commodity.

The company’s Antler project in Arizona has a resource of 11.4 million tonnes at 2.1% copper, 5% zinc, 0.9% lead, 32.9 grams per tonne silver and 0.36g/t gold, or 4.1% copper equivalent.

New World acquired the rights to the project, a historical mine which closed in the 1970s due to low copper prices, in 2020 and has been mapping a path to production ever since.

A 2023 scoping study outlined capital costs of US$252 million for a 13-year operation producing an average 16,400t of copper in concentrate per year, as well as zinc, gold and silver at C1 cash costs of US$1.68 per pound on a copper equivalent basis and negative US50c/lb after co-products.

Based on a copper price of US$8500 per tonne, the project would generate US$153 million of free cashflow per year.

The post-tax net present value was US$835 million, with an internal rate of return of 40.2% and a payback period of 36 months.

PFS due within weeks

New World is putting the finishing touches on a prefeasibility study just as mining companies round the world are scrambling for more copper exposure – as shown by BHP’s bid for Anglo American.

“I think that it’s a real differentiating factor for our project is that we don’t need high copper prices. We make really good money, even at $3 a pound copper,” New World managing director Mike Haynes said.

“So unlike some of these large tonnage, low-grade projects, we don’t need that high copper price.”

Because the project is of a modest size, New World believes it can be built much faster.

“And we believe that we will be able to capitalise on these high prevailing copper prices, which has been our objective all along.”

New World has two drill rigs on site with a third arriving in the next few weeks to start on reserve definition drilling as part of the early stages of the upcoming feasibility study.

The company is testing up to 16 high-priority targets along strike from Antler.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Paul Howard said while Antler represented a “robust” project, the discovery of a satellite deposit could be a game-changer.

“Given the single decline likely maxes out at the 1.3Mtpa throughput capacity, in order to make a step change and appeal to a larger investor audience, similar to those who backed Sandfire when it was producing 60,000-70,000tpa from DeGrussa, additional satellite deposits may be required to increase production from a future expanded Antler mill,” he said recently.

New World also holds the Javelin project, 75km away, which could be a source of future high-grade satellite feed.

Permitting underway

The company has kicked off the permitting process with a view to having all approvals in place by the end of 2025.

There is a perception that permitting in the US is difficult, something that Haynes said wasn’t necessarily true.

“I think the key point with our permitting is that virtually all of our mining infrastructure, and our processing infrastructure is going to be located on land that we own,” he said.

“With private land, development is primarily governed by the state agencies – and the state of Arizona is extremely pro-development and the longest lead times for permits with the state will be 15 months.”

New World needs 12 state permits and one federal permit, which should start to trickle through next year.

“I think as we go through that process, we will be progressively de-risking the attitude towards the project,” Haynes said.

Market yet to catch on

Despite a copper price approaching US$5/lb, a price target of A12c from Canaccord and a cash balance of more than A$20 million, New World’s share price is sitting at around A4c, virtually unchanged since the start of the year.

“To be brutally honest, I remain astounded by it,” Haynes said.

“I think a market cap of A$100 million is way undervaluing what we’ve got because our project will make A$300 million free cash a year once we’re in production for 13 years.”

Haynes suggested some investors were looking further up the curve at developers with A$200-300 million market caps, while the perception of long US permitting times was also a potential drag.

“I think if our asset was out the back of Meekatharra or if it was right next to DeGrussa, then there would be no concern whatsoever.”

Sentiment in the junior space remains generally weak, even for copper and gold stocks, despite all-time high metal prices.

“The good thing is we’re fully funded to get through this permitting and feasibility work,” Haynes said.

“So even if there are vagaries in the market over the next 6, 9,12 months, then we’re just going to crack on and get this work done as quickly as we practicably can and get into production as quickly as we practicably can.”