Kantra’s Coburn project clears a key processing test

Coburn Test Work Clears Kanmantoo Processing Hurdle

Kantra Copper Limited (ASX:KAN) has cleared one of the more consequential technical hurdles in its Coburn Pre-Feasibility Study, reporting copper recoveries above 90% and gold recoveries above 50% using the existing Kanmantoo processing flowsheet and reagent suite.

The laboratory-scale program was designed to test whether Coburn mineralisation could be processed through the operating Kanmantoo plant rather than requiring a separate processing configuration. Kantra said the results had been independently peer reviewed and substantially reduced metallurgical risk for the current phase of the study.

Initial Composite Leaves Variability Question Open

The result is positive, but it is not yet a deposit-wide processing verdict. The test work used a single composite drawn from the primary pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite domain, with samples selected to approximate the resource composition and exclude very high-grade intervals. Kantra said further drilling and geological domaining are needed to assess how metallurgical performance varies across the deposit.

Further optimisation is under way, including work on the preferred grind size and the possibility of blending Coburn mineralisation with Kanmantoo ore. Those studies are intended to examine plant utilisation and processing performance, rather than simply confirm whether the initial flowsheet works.

Project Takes New Name as PFS Advances

The Mutooroo project has also been renamed Coburn following consultation with local landholders and community stakeholders. Kantra and Havilah Resources agreed on the new name, which draws on the nearby township of Cockburn and is intended to give the project a distinct identity while retaining its regional connection.

The project remains subject to the staged Farm-In Agreement between Kantra and Havilah. With the processing question partly addressed, the remaining study work is moving towards logistics and geological definition. Kantra is assessing rail siding capital requirements and transport operating costs, after an earlier Mutooroo PFS rail focus identified rail logistics as a key part of the study.

Rail and Drilling Set the Next Technical Tests

Initial rail logistics assessments are expected during the December quarter and will feed capital and operating cost assumptions into the PFS. The transport solution matters because the proposed processing strategy depends on moving material between Coburn and Kanmantoo; the announcement does not yet provide the costs or infrastructure requirements that will determine its commercial weight.

Kantra is preparing an approximately 1,000-metre drilling program across six to eight holes, scheduled to start in late October after a planned geophysical survey. The holes are intended to improve geological understanding, generate additional metallurgical samples, support tailings characterisation and validate technical datasets used in the project evaluation. The company is targeting an outcome during the December quarter, but the recoveries reported today will still need to be tested against a broader sample of the deposit.