Ming Underground Mine
Green Bay Copper – Gold Project
Overview
50Mt @ 2.0% for 970kt CuEq (1.7% Cu & 0.3g/t Au)
The Green Bay copper-gold project is located in the Baie Verte district of north-east Newfoundland, Canada. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has been recognised as a top ten global mining investment jurisdiction in the 2023 Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies.
The project consists of multiple assets headlined by the Ming underground mine.
Ming Underground Mine
The Ming deposit is a high-grade copper-gold Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit located ~9km east of the township of Baie Verte.
The deposit comprises an upper zone of multiple tabular copper-gold rich massive sulphide horizons underlain by an extensive broad copper stockwork zone, known as the Footwall Zone (LFWZ). In places, the FWZ exceeds 100m in width and vertical extent.
The Ming deposit was originally mined between 1972 and 1982, before mining resumed in 2012. Historical production totaled 6.7Mt at 2.0% for 134,000t of copper.
The current resource at Ming is 50Mt @ 2.0% for 970kt CuEq (1.7% Cu & 0.3g/t Au).
The mine consists of an operating decline accessible to 950m below surface, and an existing 650m-deep shaft. This functional infrastructure provides a significant platform for FireFly Metals to rapidly increase the resource for minimal capital outlay.
FireFly’s mineral claims and simplified geology of the Baie Verte mineral district
Forward Work Plan
Recent drilling confirms that the Ming deposit remains open down-plunge, with the deepest hole in the Footwall Zone returning an intersection of 61.8m @ 1.8% CuEq on the limit of the Resource boundary (see ASX release dated 3 October 2024, intersection is ~ true thickness). As such, the Company will continue with its low-cost rapid resource growth strategy, with the underground exploration drill drive to be extended to allow effective drill testing down plunge as well as discovery drilling utilising DHEM for new parallel and repeat lodes at the Ming deposit during 2025.
Four drill rigs remain underground at the Ming mine to ensure the growth objectives are delivered. As at 29 October 2024, ~40,000m of the planned 130,000m drill program has been completed.
The remainder of the underground drill program for 2024-2025 has three clear strategic components:
Resource extension: Test the down-plunge continuation of both the high-grade copper-gold VMS zones as well as the broad footwall copper stringer zone: ~40,000m of drilling
Infill drilling: Convert inferred areas of the Resource to indicated for inclusion in future mining studies; and
Discovery drilling: Drilling to explore for parallel high-grade VMS lodes and additional broad footwall stringer-style mineralisation and possible ‘feeder’ zone style mineralisation within 600m of the underground infrastructure.
Further Resource updates are planned for 2025, with the first in the second quarter of CY2025 expected to potentially include additional high-grade copper and gold rich massive sulphide lenses. The second update is scheduled for late 2025 and will include potential resource extensions from the second phase of the drill drive.
Work has commenced on engineering studies to evaluate various scenarios for an up-scaled restart to operations, which will incorporate the expected 2025 resource updates once finalised. Upscaled studies can be completed very quickly once final resource update numbers are available given the level of detail going into the current engineering assessments, but with the huge success of the drilling programs the Company does not want to limit the size of any future potential upscaled mining operation until it has completed the next phase of growth drilling.
FireFly is well funded through 2025 with the recent institutional Placement and Share Purchase Plan raising an additional A$73M.
Planned 2024-2025 Resource extensions drilling at the Ming mine. This is expected to add additional high-grade VMS as well as broad footwall stringer extensions to the Resource. Note that new discovery drilling and infill drilling is not shown on this image, only extension drilling.
Key 2024-2025 milestones for the Green Bay Copper-Gold Project. Please note that timelines are indicative and may be subject to change.
Additional data informing the updated Ming Resource
Drilling at the Ming underground copper-gold mine recommenced following the acquisition of the Green Bay copper-gold project by FireFly in October 2023. The Company completed 79 drill holes for 37,110m of diamond core to the beginning of October 2024 from underground development.
At the data cut-off date for the Resource estimate (3 October 2024), assays for the first 68 holes had been received and were used to inform the updated Ming Resource Estimate. All results have been previously reported in FireFly’s ASX releases.
Most of the drilling was completed from the exploration drill drive mined by FireFly, with over 1,400m of underground development completed by the owner-operator mining team since November 2023. The drill platform was specifically designed to position drill rigs at favourable orientations sub-perpendicular to mineralisation.
Approximately 5,000m of drilling was conducted to validate historical information and infill data gaps within the previous foreign estimate.
Long section showing new drill data acquired by FireFly since October 2023 to inform the updated mineral resource estimate. Red on the drill traces are assays >0.5% copper.