Copper demand lifting on AI, EVs and grid upgradesTrue North’s Mt Oxide offers district-scale exploration upsideCloncurry could deliver near-term production and cashflow
Copper has been enjoying a resurgence in recent times and is likely to see sustained growth on the back of demand from electric vehicles, power grid upgrades and data centres powering artificial intelligence.
Benchmark London Metals Exchange pricing continues to stay above US$14,000/t with expectations that rising orders could blow prices beyond the record US$14,500/t that it reached briefly at the end of January 2026.
This strength is undoubtedly a boon for copper-focused companies such as True North Copper (ASX:TNC) , which has been progressing its portfolio of assets with different development horizons within Queensland’s Mt Isa region, one of Australia’s premier copper provinces.
Central to these are the high-grade Mt Oxide copper-cobalt-silver project that rose to prominence in 2025 following the Aquila discovery as well as the smaller but potentially nearer term Cloncurry copper project.
So why did the company choose to focus on copper in the first place?
A defining commodity for Australia #
Speaking to Stockhead, True North managing director Andrew Mooney said copper was re-emerging as one of the defining commodities of the Australian mining sector.
This is supported by electrification, grid investment and increasingly constrained new supply.
“For the past few decades, iron ore has been the dominant driver of Australia’s mining industry, but we are now seeing copper increasingly rival it in strategic importance and investor interest,” he said.
“We believe TNC is well positioned for that shift through our copper portfolio in Northwest Queensland.”
This same portfolio offers different development horizons within a premier copper region, the Mt Isa Inlier that is world-famous for hosting massive deposits of copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold.
“Mt Oxide provides the blue-sky resource growth opportunity and is our flagship asset and primary exploration focus,” Mooney said.
“The Cloncurry Copper Project provides nearer-term development and production optionality, supported by existing resources, mining leases and infrastructure.”
Flagship project #
Mt Oxide is the True North’s flagship asset and considered a standout growth opportunity.
“It is a high-grade, underexplored copper district anchored by the Vero resource and Aquila discovery, which we believe was one of Australia’s highest-grade greenfield copper discoveries of 2025, with broad mineralisation including high-grade shoots of up to 7m at 7.9% copper,” Mooney said.
“We see 29Metals’ nearby Capricorn Copper asset as a compelling regional analogue for the type of high-grade copper district Mt Oxide has the potential to become.
“Aquila is particularly exciting because it demonstrates the opportunity to build significant scale and high-grade resources beyond the existing Vero resource.”
Mt Oxide has a contained resource of 220,000t copper, 5.13Moz silver and 21,200t cobalt.
It has established infrastructure, including an exploration camp, and proximity to a processing plant and power grid.
Recent drilling at Aquila has extended the high-grade mineralisation by 100m to ~300m below surface, strengthening confidence in the continuity of the northern high-grade shoot and the discovery’s scale potential.
The drilling, which is testing about 750m of mineralised strike, has returned notable intercepts such as 130m grading 0.67% Cu including 16m at 3.67% and 74m at 0.73% Cu including 11m at 1.65% to date.
Near-term copper producer #
While Mt Oxide is shaping as a standalone, long-life copper development, it is the Cloncurry project that is likely to deliver cashflow first. Cloncurry has contained resources of 128,000t copper and 152,000oz gold.
It is supported by extensive existing infrastructure including a wholly-owned refurbished Solvent Extraction (SX) plant, flotation plant, crusher, heap leach and tailing facilities (currently in care and maintenance).
Multiple high-quality exploration targets have the potential to add significantly to the mining resource base identified within the Cloncurry operations hub.
Company exploration to date has already identified previously undrilled and newly defined large-scale geophysical anomalies.
Work is underway on a refreshed pre-feasibility study that will outline a low-capital intensity pathway to production for Cloncurry.
More recently, the company released a scoping study identifying a potential low-cost production opportunity at the Wynberg deposit within Cloncurry.
Wynberg is being advanced as a practical gold-copper monetisation opportunity. It sits within a granted mining lease about 25km from the town of Cloncurry and has access to established infrastructure and regional processing facilities.
The scoping study demonstrated the potential for a capital-efficient development based on shallow open pit mining and multiple processing pathways.
It outlined a production target of 53,000oz of gold equivalent and pre-tax cash flow of between $53m and $87m across a two year mine life.
Funding requirements to achieve the study outcomes were estimated at between $23m and $38m, depending on the preferred processing pathway, mining sequence and commercial terms.
“Cloncurry is strategically located within the very active consolidation and M&A landscape of the Cloncurry copper district,” Mooney noted.
“We see an opportunity across the region to bring together resources, infrastructure and production opportunities to create greater size, scale and value.
“While we’re progressing a toll-treatment pathway for the project, with the potential for mining in 2027, we will also continue to assess logical consolidation and M&A opportunities where we believe they can create additional value for shareholders.”
Next steps #
At Mt Oxide, drilling continues to expand the Aquila discovery while unlocking the project’s district-scale potential.
Mooney adds that further results can be expected through August and the following months as the company continues to grow and better understand the scale of the Aquila mineralised system and broader project.
The company is also advancing regional exploration including priority targets such as Apollo, Acanthis, Ivena North and Rhea, to identify additional copper-cobalt-silver discoveries.
Other work being progressed includes technical studies, metallurgy and geological modelling to support the long-term development of Mt Oxide.
“At Cloncurry, our major development milestone is completion of the Cloncurry copper project pre-feasibility study and a potential ore reserve, targeted for late Q4 2026,” Mooney noted.
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While True North Copper is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
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