0:07 Joining me now is Trevor Faber. He is
0:09 the CEO of Corex Copper. Great to see you.
0:10 you.
0:11 >> Good afternoon, Mark. Great to be here.
0:13 Thank you for having us on your show.
0:15 >> Absolutely. Glad you're here. Uh let's
0:17 get into it. We we've talked to Corex
0:19 Copper a few times over the years. You
0:21 joined about eight months ago or so, and
0:23 there's a new management team. So, uh
0:26 let let's get everybody uh a refresher
0:28 and a reminder of the the Hib Copper
0:32 project. a big low tonnage in in
0:34 Namibia. Uh and you're fasttracking that
0:36 towards a PFS. So a little snapshot
0:37 there if you could.
0:39 >> Yeah, absolutely. So we we we we're
0:40 thrilled to have got control of this
0:42 asset in southern Namibia. It's an
0:45 enormous copper project. In terms of the
0:48 scale, we got 2.6 million tons of of
0:49 copper in the ground. So as you
0:51 correctly pointed out, very large
0:53 tonnages involved in in this in this
0:56 game and it is in that advanced stage.
0:59 So we took it over. it was at pea stage.
1:01 The previous management team had
1:04 advanced to pea stage. We had a look at
1:06 that and we've in fact enhanced that um
1:08 pea study that was done and and come up
1:11 with a new pea study which we released
1:14 last week. So this uh PA study envisages
1:18 a a 28 million ton peranom operation
1:22 over a life of mine of 23 years um to
1:24 produce 90,000 tons of copper contained
1:27 in concentrate peranom. So anywhere in
1:29 the world that's a that's a large very
1:31 large copper project and it's not owned
1:34 by or controlled by a major mining
1:37 company. It's 100% owned by Corx Copper
1:40 and we are an independent uh copper developer.
1:41 developer.
1:43 >> Those are those are big numbers and and
1:45 the numbers could get bigger. I know you
1:46 everybody's the team's trying to expand
1:49 the resource. You've got a threephase
1:51 drilling program, multiple rigs. So can
1:53 you get us up to speed on that?
1:54 >> Yeah, absolutely. So, we've been running
1:56 for the last year with six drill rigs uh
2:00 on site. We've drilled so far 21,000
2:02 mters of drilling this year. We'll get
2:05 to about 32,000 mters for the year. Um
2:07 and and that's with the six drill rigs.
2:09 We got another four drill rigs which
2:11 have arrived in country today in fact.
2:13 So, we're excited to see them on site
2:14 probably towards the end of this month
2:16 and by the 1st of October we'll have 10
2:19 drill rigs turning out there. We have a
2:22 multiplephase drilling program. Uh
2:24 55,000 meters in total is what we
2:28 budgeted as part of our um PAFS study.
2:30 And in fact, we've upsized that. We're
2:32 going to add another 20,000 onto that.
2:34 So in total, we as corex will drill
2:38 75,000 mters at at the project. Prior to
2:40 us taking control of this project, there
2:42 was 80,000 mters already drilled. So um
2:44 our re mineral resource estimate will be
2:48 informed by approximately 150,000 mters
2:50 of drilling. So it will be extensively drilled
2:51 drilled
2:53 >> and then can you take it out take us out
2:55 to the construction decision and then
2:58 and and and go backwards to PFS DFS the
3:00 timeline. What does that look like?
3:02 >> Yeah, absolutely. So we would we would
3:04 like to advance this to a to be
3:07 construction ready in 2027. Um which
3:09 isn't a long long long way away from
3:12 where we are now. Um so working
3:14 backwards from there we've already
3:16 started the the the licensing process.
3:18 So we've submitted a mining license
3:20 application and we have started the
3:22 process for environmental clearance
3:24 certificate in Namibia. this it's a very
3:28 stable and and um reliable country from
3:29 a point of view of getting projects
3:32 licensed and in in our experience that
3:35 takes about 18 months 12 to 18 months to
3:37 secure the two key licenses being
3:39 environmental uh license and mining
3:43 license. So working back from 2027 gets
3:46 us to now we we're at PA stage. We're
3:48 advancing to PFS. We've released our
3:51 engineers to to commence the engineering
3:54 work on the PFS and approximately this
3:56 time next year we should be uh
3:58 publishing a a PFS uh which will be
4:01 based on a on an updated mineral
4:03 resource estimate. As we mentioned in
4:05 the previous snippet uh we're going to
4:07 upsize this resource uh from you know
4:09 currently the 2.6 6 million tons of
4:11 copper in the ground. We feel we're
4:13 going to get an increase in the volume
4:15 of copper and uh our geologists have
4:18 done an incredible job in in identifying
4:21 higher grade zones. Um our geologists
4:23 tech geologists uh have have identified
4:26 these and we're going to upgrade this in
4:28 terms of the the grade will also
4:30 improve. So we'll get an improvement in
4:32 the grade and we'll get an improvement
4:33 uh in the tonnage.
4:36 >> Now uh Trevor Corex recently raised
4:38 about 25 million. Redcloud was part of
4:41 that syndicate. You've got Ross Bey in
4:42 there, Tech Resources. You have
4:45 institutional support. Um, uh, private
4:47 investor support as well. So, how would
4:49 you characterize the shareholder base or
4:51 the the demand and the interest in in
4:52 the story?
4:54 >> I'd characterize them as blue chip
4:56 individuals. You know, we've really had
4:57 incredibly supportive shareholders and
4:58 we're really grateful to those
5:00 shareholders. They understand the
5:03 challenges that a junior miner faces and
5:04 we've been blessed to have shareholders
5:06 that have patient capital. They're
5:08 willing to invest for the long term and
5:10 they're willing to back a management
5:12 team that has a proven track record,
5:14 knows what it wants to do, when it wants
5:15 to do it, and we've been fortunate to
5:18 raise that $25 million mark, which will
5:20 get us through until the the end of next
5:21 year. So, it will take us through our
5:24 prefeasibility study status. So, you
5:26 know, those shareholders have just been
5:28 magnificent for us. uh we've given them
5:30 our plans, we've executed on our plans
5:33 to date and they've rewarded us by by
5:35 giving us more money to execute on on
5:36 the next phase which is which will get
5:38 us to the PFS by the end of next year.
5:40 >> And the team has a lot of experience in
5:43 Namibia and a track record of creating
5:45 value and delivering returns to
5:47 shareholders. So can you sort of wrap it
5:49 up for us and summarize your thoughts
5:51 with the investment case and how corate
5:53 copper really stands out from peers?
5:55 >> Oh absolutely. So it stands out on a
5:56 number of fronts. So first and foremost
6:00 is is the asset. So it's the quality and
6:02 the size of hybrid asset. Then I
6:04 reiterate there not many of these uh
6:06 that are available uh anywhere in the
6:07 world. That's the first thing. The
6:08 second thing is the quality of the
6:11 management team and its track record. So
6:13 this is a management team that has 15
6:16 years of of multiple exits in Namibia.
6:19 Uh so that carries through and and and
6:22 and that is important uh for the
6:24 investment case. The third thing is the
6:26 jurisdiction where we operate. Namibia
6:28 is an incredible place, politically
6:30 stable. Um it's it's probably one of the
6:32 best places in Africa to do business
6:33 because of the nature of the
6:35 infrastructure. It's infrastructurally
6:38 rich, great roads, ports, power, um
6:40 stable power generation. There is water,
6:44 access to water and um there's access to
6:46 electrical power. These are the things
6:50 that mines need. Uh the fourth point is
6:52 that we we believe that we have a low
6:54 valuation. And so uh to our compared to
6:56 our our peers on an equity valuation
6:59 basis we believe that we are have a we
7:01 are trading at a significant discount
7:03 and that provides shareholders current
7:05 and potential shareholders with a
7:07 certain downside protection. We believe
7:09 that a rerating is in order for us. Uh
7:12 and and then the last thing is there's
7:13 growth potential out here. So we are
7:16 we're drilling not only in and around
7:19 our pit. There are other satellite um
7:21 call it areas that we've identified that
7:24 that show potential and we believe that
7:27 you know in the fullness of time over
7:29 the next two years we will uh bring some
7:31 of those additional resources into play.
7:34 So in a summary that's that's the
7:35 investment case for Corex. Mark
7:37 >> that was great. Yeah four bullet points
7:39 there for us. Uh great update. Thanks
7:39 very much.
7:41 >> It's an absolute pleasure and thank you
7:41 for having me
7:43 >> for sure. Thank you Trevor. Trevor
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