Marimaca Copper Eyes Construction Start in 2027 as Project Financing Package Nears Completion

Marimaca Copper, the TSX and ASX-listed developer of the Marimaca Oxide Deposit in Chile's Antofagasta Region, is on track to start construction next year. The company has already begun detailed design and engineering, road upgrades, and early site works ahead of a final investment decision. In an interview, Chief Executive Officer Hayden Locke confirmed that the project financing package will be announced before the end of this year.

The Marimaca Oxide Deposit is a permitted, feasibility-stage heap-leach project with 179 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves at 0.42% copper. Proven and Probable reserves stand at 748,000 tonnes of contained copper, inside a Measured and Indicated resource of 213 Mt at 0.40% copper. Water is secured through a permitted seawater intake in the Bay of Mejillones, and certified renewable power sits on a grid line 10 km from the site.

The project's economic viability depends heavily on the copper price, with a post-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate (NPV8%) of $709 million at a long-term price of $4.30 per pound for copper. At a price of $5.05 per pound for copper, those figures rise to $1.1 billion, 39%, and 2.2 years.

The company is also drilling on its Pampa Medina asset, which it expects to release a maiden mineral resource estimate in early 2027. This could potentially add between 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes per annum of copper cathode to the planned output from the MOD.