COMPANY PROFILE
"American copper for USA manufacturing: Advancing the Cactus Project in Arizona"
Summary
Arizona Sonoran Copper Company (ASCU) is a lower risk copper exploration and development company with a 100% interest in the brownfield Cactus Project. The Project, on privately held land, contains a large-scale porphyry copper resource and its recent 2024 PEA proposes a generational open pit copper mine with robust economic returns. Cactus benefits from a State-led permitting process, in place infrastructure, highways and rail lines at its doorstep and onsite permitted water access. The Company benefits from a mining-saavy executive team, including the growing local team in Arizona, which results in alignment with the community and governmental support.
Corporate Presentation
Main Leadership
Arizona Sonoran’s Board and Management team is comprised of mining-saavy executives with a track record of success. The Board, Chaired by David Laing, is comprised of 6 members, contributing extensive legal, technical, financial and capital markets experience to the team. The management team, based in Arizona and Ontario, is comprised of:
- George Ogilvie, President, CEO and Director
- Nick Nikolakakis, VP Finance and CFO
- Bernie Loyer, SVP Projects
- Nick Hayduk, VP Corporate Development and General Counsel
- Travis Snider, VP Sustainability and External Relations
- Doug Bowden, VP Exploration
- Alison Dwoskin, Director, Investor Relations
Interview on CEO.CA
Our Assets
The Cactus Project is a 100%-owned brownfield porphyry copper project located on private land, in a tier 1 mining jurisdiction. The Project is situated at the convergence of three major copper trends in Arizona, near the city of Casa Grande, Arizona, USA. Access to onsite and nearby infrastructure, including water, power, highways, rail and access to skilled labour, is reflected within the Project’s first quartile capital intensity, while an advanced permitting schedule lowers its associated risks. The city of Phoenix and the Sky Harbor International Airport are located 45 miles to the north and Tucson is approximately 75 miles to the southeast. The Project itself covers approximately 5,700 acres.
The total mineral resource estimate contains 7.3 billion pounds of copper in the Measured and Indicted category, at a grade of 0.58% total copper, and 3.8 billion pounds of copper at a grade of 0.41% total copper. In August 2024, the Company issued a step-up Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “2024 PEA”), contemplating the production of 116,000 short tons per annum over the first 20 years of a 31 year mine life, producing copper cathode onsite via conventional open pit, heap leach and solvent extraction and electro-winning processing (1). The Company is currently advancing Cactus to Prefeasibility Study in early H2 2025.
The Cactus Project, previously known as the Sacaton Mine, was owned and operated by ASARCO from 1972-1984, via open pit and concentrator. The mine was put on care and maintenance due to economic conditions. Under the guidance of the ASARCO Trust and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, a $20 million program was completed in 2020, which remediated the property, excluding the surface Stockpile.
(1) For further details regarding the 2024 PEA, including applicable cautionary statements and technical notes, please refer to the Company’s news release dated August 7, 2024 and the Technical Report filed on August 27, 2024, both available on the Company’s website and under its profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
