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Ivanhoe Electric lifts Santa Cruz pre-production capex, targets 2029 output
Santa Cruz pre-production capital rose 15% to $1.43 billion, while first cathode production is now due in 2029.
Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz copper project in Arizona has become more expensive following a new prefeasibility study, even as its economics improved modestly, Mining.com reports. The company said pre-production capital increased to $1.43 billion from $1.24 billion a year earlier, a 15% jump, while net present value rose to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion.
The updated study also shifted key performance metrics. Santa Cruz’s internal rate of return fell to 19% from 20%, and the payback period lengthened to 4.8 years from 4.4 years, despite using a higher copper price assumption of $4.75 per pound in the 2026 PFS.
Ivanhoe Electric, led by founder and executive chairman Robert Friedland, is targeting first cathode production in 2029, one year later than previously planned. The company attributed the higher capital spending partly to a redesigned access tunnel intended to reduce groundwater risk, along with construction materials and labor inflation.
U.S.-traded shares of Ivanhoe Electric fell 4.2% to $10.27 Wednesday afternoon, valuing the company at about $1.6 billion. The PFS also includes an increased average copper output of about 74,700 tonnes a year over the first 15 years, up from about 72,000 tonnes in the prior plan.
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