Exhibit 96.1

	Minerals Industry Consultants	Level 9, 80 Mount Street North Sydney, NSW 2060  Australia   Tel: 612 9954 4988  Fax: 612 9929 2549  Email: bdaus@bigpond.com

TECHNICAL REPORT SUMMARY

CSA COPPER MINE – NEW SOUTH WALES – AUSTRALIA

S-K 1300 REPORT PREPARED FOR
METALS ACQUISITION CORPORATION

BEHRE DOLBEAR AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED
21 FEBRUARY 2023

DATE AND SIGNATURE PAGE

This Technical Report Summary was prepared by Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Limited for Metals Acquisition Corporation (“MAC”). Mr. Mike Job of Cube Consulting Pty Limited, West Perth, acted as Qualified Person (“QP”) for the Mineral Resource estimate and Mr. Jan Coetzee of MAC acted as Qualified Person for the Mineral Reserve estimate.

The contributes of each group to this Technical Report Summary is shown in the table below.

Table of Contents

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

GLOSSARY – ABBREVIATIONS USED CONTINUED

Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Limited (“BDA”) was engaged by Metals Acquisition Corp. (“MAC” or the “Company”) to prepare an independent Technical Report Summary (“Technical Report” or the “Report”) on the CSA Copper Mine (“CSA” or the “Project”), located in western New South Wales, 11 kilometres (“km”) northwest of the town of Cobar, Australia.

The purpose of this Technical Report is to report the Mineral Reserve Estimate and Mineral Resource Estimate for CSA, both of which have an effective date of December 31^st, 2022. This report has an effective date of February 21^st, 2023.

This Technical Report Summary conforms to United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Modernized Property Disclosure Requirements for Mining Registrants as described in Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K, Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations and Item 601 (b)(96) Technical Report Summary (collectively “S-K 1300”).

The CSA Copper Mine is located in western New South Wales, Australia, (latitude 31° 24’ 32.42°S, longitude 145° 48’ 0.20°E), 11 kilometres (“km”) northwest of the town of Cobar and 600km west-northwest of Sydney (Figure 1).

Cobar Management Pty Ltd (“CMPL”) is the Australian legal entity and operator of CSA mine. CMPL is the registered owner of all key assets of the mine including property, mineral, fixed and mobile assets used in the operation. CMPL is ultimately owned by Glencore International AG (“Glencore” or “GIAG”) who, on 17 March 2022, entered into a binding sale and purchase agreement to sell CMPL to MAC.

CMPL holds a Mining Lease (CML5) over the CSA deposit, surrounded by two Exploration Licences (EL5693 and EL5983) and one Exploration Licence Application (ELA6565) (Figure 2). CMPL also has joint venture exploration interests in exploration areas to the south of Cobar (Figure 2). CML5 covers an area of approximately 24.7 square kilometres (“km2”), while the surrounding EL5693 and EL5983 cover approximately 366km2 and ELA6565 covers approximately 138 km2. Ore is produced principally from two steeply dipping underground mineralised systems, QTS North (“QTSN”) and QTS Central (“QTSC”) from depths generally between 1,500- 1,800 metres (“m”) below surface. The current depth of the decline is around 1,900m. CMPL mining operations average around 1.1 million tonnes of ore per annum (“Mtpa”). The underground mine is serviced by two hoisting shafts and a decline. The ore is crushed underground, hoisted to surface, and milled and processed through the CSA concentrator.

All-weather access to the CSA mine is provided via sealed highways and public roads, and the mine is linked by rail to the ports of Newcastle and Port Kembla, a suburb of Wollongong, from where the copper concentrate product is exported. Cobar is serviced by a sealed airstrip with commercial flights to and from Sydney.

The climate of Cobar is semi-arid with evaporation typically exceeding rainfall by a ratio of 6:1. The mean annual rainfall for Cobar is approximately 400mm. During summer months, maximum temperatures typically range between 28-39ºC and during the winter months, maximum temperatures typically range between 13-20ºC. Minimum temperatures in the winter months typically range between 5-9ºC. 

The project is well served by existing infrastructure which includes power supply, water supply, site buildings, and service facilities. Power is supplied to the site from the state energy network via a 132 kilovolt (“kV”) transmission line. Further backup power for the site is supplied by diesel power generators.

The majority of the water supply for the operation is provided by the Cobar Water Board from a weir on the Bogan River at Nyngan (Figure 1) through a network of pumps and pipelines. Additional water is available from tailings water recycling, surface water capture, and an installed borefield.

The CSA mine has a long operating history, with copper mineralisation first discovered in 1871. Early development commenced in the early 1900s, focussing on near surface mineralisation. In 1965, Broken Hill South Limited developed a new mechanised underground mining and processing operation, with new shafts, winders, concentrator, and infrastructure; subsequently, it operated under several different owners, until the property was acquired by GIAG in 1999. The direct owner and operator of the mine is Cobar Management Pty Ltd (CMPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore and the entity to be acquired by MAC.

Metals Acquisition Corp.

CSA Mine

The CSA deposit is located within the Cobar mineral field in the Cobar Basin, a north-south mineralised belt containing copper, gold, and lead-zinc mineralisation, with five currently operating mines within 80km of Cobar (Figure 2). Mineralisation at the CSA mine is hosted within the Silurian-age CSA Siltstone, a steeply dipping sequence of interbedded siltstones and sandstones. Mineralisation is associated with north-south faulting and northwest cross-cutting structures; studies indicate that reactivation of the faults played a significant role in providing fluid pathways for mineralising fluids and dilational zones for the formation of the mineral deposits.

The CSA mineralisation occurs in five known systems: Eastern, Western, QTS North (“QTSN”), QTS Central (“QTSC”) and QTS South (“QTSS”) (Figure 3). Within these systems multiple lenses occur; lenses are typically 5-30m wide, with relatively short strike lengths (<300m) but significant down plunge extent of up to 1000m. Not all the systems extend to surface; QTSN which accounts for the bulk of the current production tonnes is developed from 600m depth while QTSC is developed from a depth of around 1,200m.

The dominant copper sulphide is chalcopyrite (CuFeS²); silver is also present as acanthite (Ag²S).

The CSA deposit was discovered in 1871 with a further discovery of copper-rich ore in 1905, however, a slump in metal prices and an underground fire led to the closure of the mine in 1920. Zinc Corp Ltd (through its subsidiary Enterprise Exploration) explored the area from 1947 to 1957 and commenced re-development work in 1952. Cobar Mines Pty Ltd was created in 1956, mining recommenced in 1962 and production commenced in 1965 from the Eastern (Cu-Zn) and Western (Pb-Zn-Ag) System lenses.

The QTS System was discovered in the mid-1970s with the QTS North lenses being the main source of the copper ore at the time. CMPL came under the ownership of Conzinc Riotinto of Australia (“CRA”) in 1980, Golden Shamrock Mines (“GSM”) in 1993 and Glencore in 1999. During this time, there has been ongoing periods of geochemical and geophysical data acquisition, shallow RC drilling and deeper diamond drilling.

The CSA deposit has been drilled using fully cored diamond drill holes drilled either from surface or underground, primarily using NQ size (47.6mm diameter core). The deposits have been defined by over 6,500 holes totalling approximately 900km of core, although data from many of the historical drill holes is not used for current resource estimation, being located in the upper mined out levels of the deposit; current resource estimates are based on approximately 3,900 drill holes and more than 39,000 samples. Underground diamond drilling over the last five years has averaged 22,000m per year, with rates of 24-25,000m per year achieved over the last two years.

Sample preparation and assaying is carried out by independent laboratory, Australian Laboratory Services (“ALS”) in Orange, NSW, using an aqua regia digest and the Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (“ICP-AES”) analytical method, with analysis for a standard suite of elements including copper, zinc, lead, and silver. Quality Assurance/Quality Control (“QA/QC”) protocols have been comprehensive since 2004 and include insertion of standards (supplied by Ore Research and Exploration Pty Limited), blanks and duplicate samples at a frequency of approximately 1 in 30 samples. CSA monitors QA/QC data; the sampling and assaying data for the main elements are considered reliable and without material bias and sample security arrangements are appropriate and satisfactory.

Basic database validation checks are carried out by CMPL personnel. These included sample from and to depths, geology depths, record duplication and missing collar duplication checks, as well as collar survey and down hole survey checks. Assay certificates were verified against the acQuire database dispatch and laboratory job numbers. Extensive random checks of the digital database were made against hardcopy/pdf format assay certificates and geology logs. Core recovery is generally greater than 95%.

With 55-years of operating history (23-years under Glencore ownership), the CSA orebody mineralogy and the operating performance of the processing plant is well understood, with the processing plant consistently achieving metallurgical recoveries in the order of 97-98% to produce a high-quality 26-27% Cu concentrate. Other than routine day-to-day process performance monitoring and improvement on the internal metallurgical models, no metallurgical testwork is generally undertaken or warranted unless new styles of mineralisation are encountered.

The Mineral Resource estimate for the CSA Mine is reported here in accordance with the SEC S-K 1300 regulations. The Mineral Resources presented in this section are not Mineral Reserves and do not reflect demonstrated economic viability. The reported Inferred Mineral Resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that all or any part of this Mineral Resource will be converted into Mineral Reserve. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates and totals may not add correctly. Mineral Resource estimates exclusive of Mineral Reserves are summarized in Table 1.1. on a 100% ownership basis. The effective date of the Mineral Resource estimate is December 31, 2022.

Table 1.1

Copper and Silver Mineral Resources Exclusive of Mineral Reserves as of 31 December 2022 - Based on a Copper Price of US$7,400/t

Notes: 

Approximately 73% of the current Mineral Resource tonnage and 78% of the contained copper lies within the QTSN and QTSC systems.

CSA produces an annual Mineral Reserve estimate, based on actual stope designs incorporating mining losses and mining dilution. The Mineral Reserve, in accordance with the Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K, is based on Measured and Indicated resources only. CSA’s December 2022 Mineral Reserve estimate is shown in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2

Copper and Silver Mineral Reserves as of 31 December 2022 - Based on a Copper Price of US$7,400/t

Notes: 

BDA notes that Mineral Reserve underpins an estimated six-and-a-half-year mine life.

The CSA mine uses mechanised long-hole open stoping (“LHOS”) with cemented paste fill (“CPF”) as the preferred mining method. A modified Avoca stoping method has been used successfully in the narrower lenses (principally QTSC). The future dominance of the QTSN orebodies, representing approximately 70% of the currently estimated Mineral Reserve, creates some concentration risk. Estimated Mineral Resources, identified by Cube, in the other orebodies and remnant areas of the mine create contingent ore sources. One of the critical aspects to achieving production objectives is prioritising and increasing the mine development and available access to drilling and extraction horizons.

Copper production at the CSA mine is currently mine-constrained. Considerable effort in recent years, and the current capital expenditure programmes underway, are all aimed at maximising ore production as the mine gets deeper. MAC is targeting future ore production of approximately 1.2Mtpa, but increasing depth introduces additional mining challenges, increased mining costs and also some lowering of delivered grades.

With the mine progressively becoming deeper, rock stresses are increasing, and more ventilation and cooling was required. A significant capital works program was completed in 2022 to increase both ventiliation and cooling to accommodate the current LOM plan. In addition, the current resource estimate demonstrates that the mineralization tonnes per vertical metre are diminishing with depth. Importantly, with increasing depth, travel times for employees and equipment increase and issues around ore and waste movement from the lower levels of the mine to the hoisting shaft or distant stope voids (in the case of waste rock) require more closely coordinated planning and management.

Despite the combination of geotechnical stress increasing with depth and the cleaved and bedded siltstones, ground conditions at the current base of the mine appear fair. A recent rockfall towards the bottom of the decline, convergence and buckling in some development drives, and issues with a recent vent raise, are not unexpected. Changes to stope design and sequencing as well as positioning of access drives, declines and ventilation infrastructure and ground support practices are all being reassessed in light of the geotechnical conditions, and improvements can and are being made.

The mining operation needs to be geotechnically driven; a move to mining quality over quantity is required to match the geotechnical conditions and logistical challenges that come from mining at depth.

The CSA processing plant is a conventional underground crush, surface grind and flotation circuit. The grinding mills, especially the Semi Autogenous Grinding (“SAG”) mills, which are around 50 years old, as well as the coarse ore bins (which date from the 1960s), are causing downtime problems. The proposed changeout of the old SAG mill units with new units would return the grinding circuit overall utilisation to 91-93%, with one mill change out completed in 2022 and the second mill changeout scheduled for 2023. With this planned grinding mill update, BDA would expect throughput of 1.4Mtpa to be possible, but notes that mill throughput is still likely to be restrained by the ability of the mining operation to increase the mined ore tonnage.

BDA considers the metallurgical performance at CSA to be good, with consistently high copper recoveries and reasonable copper concentrate grades and payable silver grades. Based on the consistency of ore feed and metallurgy over the years there is no reason to consider this performance will not be maintained.

Road access to the mine site from Sydney is via National Highway No. A32, the Barrier Highway, a high-quality rural highway to Cobar and from there to the mine site on sealed urban roads.

Cobar is serviced by a sealed airstrip with commercial flights three times per week to and from Sydney.

The site is serviced by a rail line which allows transport of concentrate product to the Port of Newcastle for export. Concentrate is loaded into rail wagons at the site and railed to Newcastle along the NSW rail network. Railing to Port Kembla, south of Wollongong, is also an option.

Power supply to the site is via a 132kV transmission line from Essential Energy’s western NSW network. The Essential Energy network is supplied by a mix of conventional and renewable power generation. A 22kV line is also connected to the site from Cobar and is available for limited supply in emergencies. Further backup power is supplied by diesel power generators.

The majority of water supply for the operation is provided by the Cobar Water Board from a weir on the Bogan River at Nyngan through a network of pumps and pipelines. Additional water is available from tailings water recycling, surface water capture and a borefield installed in 2019. Water demand is around 3 megalitres per day (“ML/day”) in summer, with most water supplied by the Cobar Water Board system. The Cobar Water Board system is adequate to supply the operation up to around 1.2Mtpa; the borefield is only required during periods of drought or should a plant feed rate in excess of 1.2Mtpa be considered for extended periods.

The majority of the workforce is accommodated in Cobar with some senior staff employed on a fly in/fly out (“FIFO”) or drive in/drive out (“DIDO”) arrangement. No workforce accommodation is provided at the mine site.

Site buildings comprise site offices, warehouses, and services buildings. Site services include power and water reticulation facilities, communications systems and fuel storage and dispensing facilities.

South Tailings Storage Facility (“STSF”)

The STSF average deposition rate is 55kt per month. At the current rate, based on the latest Lift 9 embankment raise, the STSF has capacity to store tailings up to December 2024. Further embankment raises, Lift 10 and Lift 11, are planned to be designed and permitted within the next 12 months and Lift 10 constructed before mid-2024. Lift 10 is expected to have sufficient capacity to the end of the reserve LOM.

The STSF appears to be well operated with no significant issues in relation to the facility’s integrity. CSA has commenced a study to install buttressing in specific areas on the STSF wall to improve the Factor of Safety (“FOS”) to the Post Seismic (Liquified Strength). The current early phase estimate to rectify the FOS is approximately A$5M and is expected to be completed in 2023.

Waste Rock

Waste rock from underground development is backfilled into mined out stopes where possible, but any excess is hoisted or trucked to surface for storage on waste dumps. Most waste rock is classified as Non-Acid Forming (“NAF”) but around 30% of the waste material is classified as Potential Acid Forming (“PAF”) rock. All waste rock materials are geochemically tested for issues related to acid rock drainage (“ARD”) and potential for metal leaching. Only suitable, low risk waste rock material is hoisted and stockpiled on the surface.

According to analysis conducted by global research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie, the world usage of refined copper has more than tripled in the last 50 years thanks to expanding sectors such as electrical and electronic products, building construction, industrial machinery and equipment, transportation equipment, and consumer and general products. Because of its properties, copper has become a major industrial metal, ranking third after Fe and aluminium in terms of quantities consumed.

The copper market in which CMPL operates is a deep, liquid market where copper is traded globally in both cathode and concentrate formats. CMPL operates within the global copper industry and faces competition from other copper producers for its main product.

The cost of turning copper and silver in concentrate into final usable copper and silver is expressed in the smelter charges set annually between the major copper producers and major Asian and European smelters.

These charges rise and fall depending on the global supply and demand for copper as well as the freight costs relative to other producers.

Due to the steadily increasing presence of new, low-quality concentrates (containing higher deleterious elements), a bifurcated market for concentrates is occurring, with the smelter terms for high-quality concentrate (containing lower deleterious elements) being appreciably more favourable to the miner than for the concentrate with higher deleterious elements. High-quality concentrate is increasingly in demand to be used as blending feedstock material and it is expected that this divergence of smelter terms will continue and likely increase as more of the less desirable, low-quality concentrate comes to market.

The concentrate produced at CSA is a high-quality product, with no deleterious elements above penalty levels and is highly sought after for blending with other concentrates.

Smelter terms are typically settled on an annual ‘Benchmark’ basis between major miners and smelters and published as a reference Benchmark. In addition, smelters often purchase concentrate on the spot market which is more reflective of the short-term supply and demand balance.

As part of MAC’s binding sale and purchase agreement with GIAG, MAC has entered into an agreement to sell all concentrate product from the CSA mine to GIAG (the “Offtake Agreement”). The Offtake Agreement for the CSA mine commits 100% of the produced concentrate for the life of mine to GIAG, as the sole customer. The offtake terms are referenced to the annual Benchmark terms set by the industry and published annually, and are therefore considered market competitive.

Broker consensus recommendation pricing (“Broker Consensus” or “Consensus”) for future copper pricing is regularly updated by analysts as their views change on supply, demand and other factors such as the political/social instability of major copper producing countries and the time and cost of bringing new supply online. In general, there is a view that copper prices are well supported by the expected increase in demand on copper products, driven by electrification of transport and energy transition to renewables.

The copper price utilized by the Company in its assessment of Mineral Resources, Mineral Reserves and associated economic analysis is US$7,400/t. This price represents a 9% discount to the long-term, real, Broker Consensus copper price outlined and is therefore considered a conservative approach to the assessments.

CSA operates under a documented Environmental Management System (“EMS”) which forms the basis of environmental management at CSA mine and includes appropriate procedures, standards, and Environmental Management Plans (“EMP”) to ensure all regulatory requirements are met.

The planned future STSF containment raises, Lifts 10, and the potential Lift 11, have commenced early phase planning to provide additional storage capacity. Regulatory standards that currently apply to the STSF are Dam Safety NSW, Australian National Committee on Large Dams (“ANCOLD”) and the Glencore Protocol 14.

There is strong community support for the CSA operation and CSA has a positive working relationship with Cobar Shire Council (“CSC”). This is not unexpected given that the CSA mine is the largest employer in the Cobar region, with approximately 500 employees and contractors.

Capital works for which capital costs have been estimated generally comprise:

The MAC forecast costs for capital works over the life of the mine are summarised in Section 18. For the majority of the significant capital works in the early years, the estimates are based on feasibility study standard engineering and unit costs from quotations from prospective suppliers and contractors or historical cost records. The estimates for the later years will have a higher level of confidence as the projects move forward in the LOM. Capital estimates for 2023 are A$63.4M and for 2024, A$50.2M. It is understood that the estimates for the major capital works include contingency allowances of around 10%.

Actual site operating cost were US$1.39/lb Cu produced in 2021 for 1.07Mt milled. For 2022, actual site operating costs were US$1.84/lb Cu for 1.03Mt milled.

The MAC forecast operating costs are based on 2022 actual cost for a similar level of forecast annual production, BDA considers this to be a reasonable estimate of future costs. With planned productivity improvements, BDA recognised that there is scope for cost improvement beyond those forecast.

This section contains forward-looking information related to economic analysis for the Project. The material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the conclusions, estimates, designs, forecasts or projections in the forward-looking information include any significant differences from one or more of the material factors or assumptions that were set forth in this sub-section including estimated capital and operating costs, project schedule and approvals timing, availability of funding, projected commodities markets and prices.

All costs, prices, and monetary values are in Q4 2022 United States Dollars (US$).

The economic analysis on CSA was conducted based on a mine design and schedule of the copper ore outlined in the Mineral Reserves (“Reserve Case”). A Discounted Cashflow (“DCF”) model was developed for this Reserve Case using copper and silver product prices of US$7,400/t and US$21.7/ troy oz, respectively. The Company elected to take a conservative approach to the economic evaluation and has applied a 9% discount to the long-term, real, Broker Consensus copper price outlined in Section 16.3.

The QP is of the opinion that these prices reasonably reflect a conservative view of current market prices and are reasonable to use as forecast future prices for the purpose of the economic analysis for this Study.

The discounted cashflow establishes that the Mineral Reserves estimate provided in this report are economically viable. The base case after-tax NPV is estimated to be US$566M. The Net Present Value for this study is most sensitive to copper price.

Given the extent of historical operations and operating knowledge at CSA, the QP considers the accuracy and contingency of cost estimates used to be well within a Feasibility Study (“FS”) standard and sufficient for the economic analysis supporting the Mineral Reserve estimate.

The CSA mine is well established and has a long operating history with well understood and predictable mineralized lodes leading to reliable Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimation. Production reconciliation continues to support these estimates. Similarly, operating costs have been consistent over recent years providing confidence in the forecast operating costs.

MAC is forecasting a modest increase in annual ore mined to better utilise the capacity of the process plant; while this may lead to some reduction in unit costs, forecast operating costs have taken account of universal increases in input costs experienced across the entire mining industry.

BDA notes that a large proportion of the Mineral Resource lies in the deeper portions of the CSA mine. However, the Mineral Reserve is largely accessible from the existing mine development, and as such, should experience mining conditions no worse than experienced today. The mine life of approximately 6.5 years based on the currently estimated Mineral Reserve is therefore considered relatively low risk.

Glencore (the current owner until the MAC acquisition transaction completes) is coming to the end of an extensive capital investment programme at CSA to prepare the mine for coming years, including a major mine ventilation and refrigeration system upgrade, new ventilation shafts and raises servicing the lower levels of the mine, mobile equipment upgrades and replacement of two of the three ball mills in the process plant. At the completion of this investment programme this year, capital costs are expected to be of a sustainable nature only.

Overall, BDA considers that the current Mineral Resource estimate prepared by Cube Consulting and the Mineral Reserve estimate prepared by Mr Jan Coetzee provide a reasonable, but probably conservative, guide to the in situ and recoverable mineralisation respectively. Significant exploration potential remains within the mine area, most notably the down dip extensions of lodes which remain open at depth. Drilling at depth is relatively sparse, such that these projections cannot be incorporated into current Mineral Reserves. Nevertheless, there is reasonable expectation that the mine life will extend well beyond the current Mineral Reserve limits, and the mine has a long history of ongoing reserve replacement.

Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Limited (“BDA”) was engaged by Metals Acquisition Corp. (“MAC” or the “Registrant” or the “Company”) to prepare an independent Technical Report Summary (“Technical Report” or the “Report”) on the CSA Copper Mine (CSA or the Project), located in western New South Wales, 11 kilometres (“km”) northwest of the town of Cobar, Australia.

BDA is a mineral industry consulting group, specialising in Independent Technical Expert due diligence reviews, valuations and technical audits of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, mining and processing operations, project feasibility studies, and Independent Engineer work on project development, construction, and certification. BDA specialises in review and due diligence work for companies and financial institutions. BDA is typically engaged to undertake independent expert reviews, to provide advisory services and to monitor a company’s or financial institution’s interests through the design, construction, commissioning, and ramp-up phases of a project.

The parent company, Behre Dolbear and Company Inc. has operated continuously as a mineral industry consultancy since 1911, and has offices or agencies in Denver, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, London, Hong Kong and Beijing, as well as Sydney. Behre Dolbear has over 60 Associates and Consultants covering a wide range of technical expertise and with experience in most parts of the world. BDA is the Australian affiliate and was founded in 1994. BDA operates independently, using primarily Australian-based consultants, but using overseas specialists where appropriate. BDA has acted on behalf of numerous international banks, financial institutions and mining clients and is well regarded as an independent expert engineering consultant in the minerals industry.

BDA is independent of MAC, CMPL and Glencore and has no interests in the companies or assets described in this report. BDA will receive its normal consulting fees and expenses for undertaking this review.

The purpose of this report is to support the Mineral Resource Estimate and Mineral Reserve Estimate for the CSA mine, both of which have an effective date of December 31^st, 2022.

This report has an effective date of February 21^st, 2023.

This Technical Report Summary conforms to United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Modernized Property Disclosure Requirements for Mining Registrants as described in Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K, Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations (S-K 1300) and Item 601 (b)(96) Technical Report Summary.

Unless otherwise indicated, all financial values are reported in United States (US) currency (US$) including all operating costs, capital costs, cash flows, taxes, revenues, expenses, and overhead distributions.

Unless otherwise indicated, the metric system is used in this Technical Report.

The qualifications and relevant experience for each Behre Dolbear Australia, Qualified Persons are shown below.

Mr Malcolm Hancock (BA, MA, FGS, FAusIMM, MIMM, MMICA, CP (Geol), MAIMVA) is a Principal and Executive Director of BDA. He is a geologist with more than 45 years of experience in the areas of resource/reserve estimation, reconciliation, exploration, project feasibility and development, mine geology and mining operations. Before joining BDA, he held executive positions responsible for geological and mining aspects of project acquisitions, feasibility studies, mine development and operations. He has been involved in the feasibility, construction, and commissioning of several mining operations. He has worked on both open pit and underground operations, on gold, copper, base metal, uranium, light metal and industrial mineral projects, and has undertaken the management and direction of many of BDA’s independent engineer operations in recent years. Mr Hancock has provided project direction, report management and editing.

Mr John McIntyre (BE (Min) Hon., FAusIMM, MMICA, CP (Min), MAIMVA) is a Principal and Managing Director of BDA. He is a mining engineer who has been involved in the Australian and international mining industry for more than 45 years, with operational and management experience in copper, lead, zinc, nickel, gold, uranium and coal in open pit and underground operations, including 5 years as a junior mining engineer in the CSA mine. He has been involved in numerous mining projects and operations, feasibility studies and technical and operational reviews in Australia, West Africa, New Zealand, North and South America, PNG and Southeast Asia. He has been a consultant for more than 30 years and has been Managing Director of BDA since 1994, involved in the development of the independent engineering and technical audit role. Mr McIntyre has provided project direction and was involved in the underground mining, geotechnical, hydrological and cost review.

Mr Mark Faul (BE. Min (Hons), MBA, MAppFin, FAusIMM, GAICD, MAIMVA) is General Manager of BDA is a mining engineer with extensive mining finance and investment experience with more than 35 years in the mining, resources investment banking and private equity investing in Australia, SE Asia, PNG, Africa, Europe and the Americas. His experience includes operations management, project feasibility and development, strategic planning, due diligence, cost assessment, financial modelling, project and corporate finance. He is experienced in a range of commodities, including gold, copper, nickel, base metals, platinum group metals, minor metals, diamonds and gemstones, rare earths, uranium, in both surface and underground mining, as well as coal seam gas and conventional oil & gas. He has extensive experience in mine management, economic analysis, project evaluation, valuation, risk management, project finance from a financier and investor prospective, and as a company director. Mr Faul was the Project Manager for this assignment, reviewing mining aspects, mine production plans, operating costs and compiling the report, and managing the review.

Mr George Brech (BSc. Geology, M.Sc. Engineering Geology, FAusIMM) is a Senior Associate of BDA with more than 45 years of experience in exploration and mining as an exploration and mine geologist. He is experienced in management, exploration, project evaluation, mine development, Mineral Reserve estimation, feasibility studies, open pit mine production, exploration and mine data evaluation, and open pit slope engineering. He has worked in various capacities on a large number of projects providing geological expertise in Australia (14 years), in southern Africa (7 years) and Southeast Asia (20 years). He is familiar with a wide range of commodities including gold, nickel, copper, wolfram, magnesite, iron ore and coal. He has extensive experience in the areas of resource/reserve estimation, reconciliation, independent expert and due diligence reports. Mr Brech has reviewed the geological data and drilling, sampling and assaying review, earlier resource/reserve assessment and grade control practices.

Mr Roland Nice (BSc, MAusIMM, LMCIM, MAIME, MIEAust, Chartered Engineer) is a Senior Associate of BDA with more than 40 years of experience as a professional metallurgical engineer. He has extensive experience in process engineering and operations, project evaluation, technical design and analysis. He has held senior management positions, including General Manager, Metallurgy and Concentrator Manager. Mr Nice has been closely involved with the process plant design, development and construction of gold, copper, uranium and base metal mines as well as numerous other metallurgical projects. He has worked principally in Australia, South America, Canada and Africa. Mr Nice has reviewed the metallurgical testwork, process plant design, plant performance and availability, plant capital and operating cost aspects.

Mr Richard Frew (BE Civil, MIE Aust) is a Senior Associate of BDA with more than 40 years’ experience as a planning, estimation and contracts engineer. He is experienced in contract management, feasibility study review, financial modelling, capital cost estimation, infrastructure, project controls, critical path analysis, project implementation and contract assessment. He has worked on a large number of projects providing management and project services to the owners or financiers, including major projects in Australia, the Philippines, Argentina, Mauritania, New Zealand and Romania. Mr Frew has reviewed the infrastructure, capital cost and project management aspects.

Mr Adrian Brett (BSc (Hon) Geol., MSc, MEnvir. Law, FAusIMM) is a Senior Associate of BDA with more than 40 years’ experience in environmental and geo-science, including the fields of environmental planning and impact assessment, site contamination assessments, environmental audit, environmental law and policy analysis and the development of environmental guidelines and training manuals. He has worked in an advisory capacity with several United Nations, Australian and overseas government agencies. He has completed assignments in Australia, Indonesia, PNG, Thailand, Laos, the Philippines, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Mr Brett is widely experienced in environmental and social/community audits, reviews of environmental and social management plans and policies, closure plans and gap analysis. Mr Brett has reviewed all relevant environmental aspects and social considerations, consistent with environmental standards and compliance, as well as closure plans.

Company Address:

Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Limited

Level 9, 80 Mount Street 

North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Mike Job of Cube Consulting Pty Limited, West Perth, acted as Qualified Person (“QP”) for the Mineral Resource estimate.

The qualifications and relevant experience for this Qualified Person is shown below.

Mr Mike Job (BSc Geol., MSc Geostatistics, FAusIMM) is a Principal Geologist and Director of Cube Consulting and has over 35 years mining industry experience in roles that have varied from mine operations to regional exploration and mineral resource estimation. He has worked on projects throughout Australia, Africa and North America and has experience with many commodities across varied geological environments. He has worked on projects for nickel (sulphide and laterite), many types of gold systems, copper, iron ore (hematite and magnetite), uranium, tin, polymetallic VMS deposits, and numerous specialty metals. His specialties include geological data gathering and interpretation, and Mineral Resource estimates that are practical, robust and auditable. He has sound technical expertise in resource estimation and grade control systems for both open cut and underground mines and has significant management experience at operating mines. He is an expert user of Datamine and Isatis software and has a solid base of geostatistical knowledge gained via his MSc in Geostatistics from the Centre for Computational Geostatistics at the University of Alberta in Canada.

Company Address:

Cube Consulting Pty Limited

4/1111 Hay Street 

West Perth, Western Australia

Mr Jan Coetzee of Metals Acquisition Corp. acted as QP for the Mineral Reserve estimate.

The qualifications and relevant experience for this Qualified Person are shown below.

Mr Jan Coetzee (GDMin, MAusIMM, CP (Min), RPEQ, QP) is an Officer of Metals Acquisition Corp Australia Pty Ltd. and has over 30 years of experience as a mining engineer. Mr Coetzee has worked primarily across Africa and Australia in various roles covering mine design and engineering, technical services, projects, studies and management. He is experienced in multiple minerals including platinum group elements, gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver and coal and has direct engineering experience across various mining methods, including open-cut, underground hard-rock and long-wall coal. Mr Coetzee has significant experience in senior management, operations, business improvement, strategic project studies and mine planning in long term design and planning of mining operations and, as a result, has acted previously as both Qualified Person under United States Securities and Exchange Commission regulation and Competent Person under Australia’s Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) and the South African Code for the Reporting of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (SAMREC). In addition to his diverse mining experience, Mr Coetzee has particular expertise in the CSA mine, having worked there as Senior Long Term Planning Engineer for over two years.

Company Address: 

Century House, Ground Floor Cricket Square, 

P.O. Box 2238 

Grand Cayman KY1-1107, Cayman Islands

Mr Mark Faul, General Manager of BDA (a Qualified Person) visited the CSA site in March 2022, held meetings with key mine operating management and received presentations on the mine’s recent performance and forecast production plans. A surface tour of the mine facilities and tailings storage facility and an underground tour of the mine infrastructure and lower mining levels was also undertaken.

Mr Jan Coetzee, officer of Metals Acquisition Corp Pty Ltd. and QP for the Mineral Reserve estimate, was employed at CSA mine for approximately two years (in 2020 and 2022) and has a thorough understanding of the mine and surrounding region.

In addition to the site visit, BDA has reviewed technical data, management presentations and reports made available by the CSA mine in its virtual dataroom (“VDR”) and provided by MAC, Mr Mike Job of Cube Consulting (QP for the Mineral Resource) and Mr Jan Coetzee of MAC (QP for the Mineral Reserve).

The reports and documents listed in Section 24 of this Report were used to support the Report preparation.

All plans for mining operations, future plans, potential, forecasts, projections, and estimates of Mineral Resources, Mineral Reserves and LOM Mine Plans and Production Schedules are forward looking statements. BDA considers this report and its conclusions provide a fair and reasonable assessment of the CSA mine operations, future plans, and potential. BDA has used appropriately experienced consultants in the due diligence review. MAC has confirmed that the information supplied is complete and not misleading. However, any forecasts and projections cannot be assured and factors both within and beyond the control of MAC could cause the actual results to be materially different from BDA’s assessments and the projections contained in this report.

This report with respect to the Project updates and supersedes the prior reports file by the Registrant (or its affiliates) with the United States Securities Exchange Commission on June 1, 2022 and December 23, 2022. 

Additional previous Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates are known to have been reported to other Non-US regulatory bodies by Glencore Plc. (LON: GLEN) under JORC Code 2012, however such works should not be considered in conformance with United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Modernized Property Disclosure Requirements for Mining Registrants as described in Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K, Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations (S-K 1300) and Item 601 (b)(96) Technical Report Summary.

All CSA Mineral Resource or Mineral Reserve statements developed or referred to in this report which are dated prior to the 31 December 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate or the Mineral Reserve Estimate presented in this Report, should not be considered as compliant with Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K. For clarity, the 31 December 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate provided by Mr Mike Job (QP) and 31 December 2022 Mineral Reserve Estimate provided by Mr Jan Coetzee (QP) presented in this Report by BDA, are compliant with Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K.

The CSA Copper Mine (latitude 31° 24’ 32.42°S, longitude 145° 48’ 0.20°E) is located 11km northwest of the town of Cobar, in western New South Wales, Australia (Figure 1), approximately 600km west-northwest of Sydney.

Cobar Management Pty Ltd (CMPL) is the Australian legal entity and operator of CSA mine. CMPL is the registered owner of all key assets of the mine including property, mineral, fixed and mobile assets used in the operation. CMPL is ultimately owned by Glencore International AG who, on 17 March 2022, entered into a binding sale and purchase agreement to sell CMPL to MAC.

The forms of Australian land title relevant to the CSA mine are listed below.

Crown Lands

Crown land is land that is owned and managed by the NSW Government. It accounts for approximately 42% of all land in New South Wales and carries special provisions. Crown land includes a range of land types, such as:

Many non-tidal waterways across the state also comprise Crown land as do most tidal waterway land.

Western Lands Lease

Nearly all the land in the Western Division of NSW is held under Western Lands Leases granted under the Western Lands Act 1901. From 1 July 2018, this legislation was replaced by the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (“CLM Act”). The 6,600 Western Lands Leases include: 4,300 for grazing; 573 for agriculture; 1,593 for residence; 134 for mining and other specific purposes. Most leases are perpetual (ongoing) and can only be used for a designated purpose. The State charges an annual rent for leases in accordance with the CLM Act, grazing and agriculture lease rents are based on the total area of the property and on the environmental impact of the land use, including a credit for managed conservation. Rents for residential and business leases are 3% and 6% of the unimproved land value, respectively.

The types of NSW mineral titles relevant to the CSA mine are listed below.

Exploration in NSW is regulated under the Mining Act 1992. The aim is to encourage and help in the discovery and development of NSW’s mineral and coal resources and encourage ecologically sustainable development. Before exploring for minerals in NSW, an explorer must obtain an exploration licence.

Exploration Licence (“EL”)

This licence grants the title holder the exclusive rights to explore for a specific mineral or mineral group(s) within a designated area. ELs are typically granted and renewed for periods of 2–6 years. An EL does not permit mining, nor does it guarantee that a mining lease will be granted.

Exploration (Prospecting) Licence (“EPL”)

These licences were granted under the Mining Act 1973 to allow a title holder to explore for minerals (excluding coal) within a designated area. While EPLs are no longer granted, some remain active. Under the Mining Act 1992, EPLs are deemed to be exploration licences, however they do not permit mining, nor guarantee that a mining lease will be granted.

A mining (minerals) lease application is made when mining or production is economically, technically and environmentally feasible. At this stage companies must specify exactly what mineral(s) they intend to extract. Mining leases give the title holder the exclusive right to extract a specific resource over a selected area.

To be granted a mining lease a development consent must be granted by the relevant consent authority, and an Environmental Protection Licence (EPL) must have been issued by the NSW Environmental Protection Agency under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

Title holders must comply with all conditions of title and all relevant requirements of the Mining Act 1992 and associated regulations for the life of the lease.

Mining Lease (“ML”)

An ML gives the title holder the exclusive right to mine for a particular viable mineral resource within a selected area. To be granted a mining lease companies must prove that there is an economically mineable mineral resource within the area of the proposed mining lease, and that they have the financial and technical resources to carry out any mining in a responsible way.

Mining Purposes Lease (“MPL”)

These are leases granted for areas in mineral mining operations for purposes such as infrastructure where resource extraction does not take place. Hence, they will appear as ‘nil minerals’. MPLs were granted under the 1906 and 1973 Mining Acts. MPLs are no longer granted and leases for mining purposes are now categorised as MLs under the Mining Act 1992.

Consolidated Mining Lease (“CML”)

This is a mining lease which covers adjoining titles held by one title holder. On a CML, there is often a common border between where mining takes place or additional areas shown as ‘nil mineral’ areas, which is where production facilities and other infrastructure may be located.

CMPL has an extensive mineral tenement holding located in the prospective Cobar Basin comprising one Mining Lease (CML5), two Mining Purposes Leases (MPL1093/1094), two wholly owned Exploration Licences (EL5693/5983), one Exploration Licence Application (ELA6565), two joint venture (“JV”) Exploration Licences (EL6223/6907) and three ELs in which CMPL’s interest has recently been converted to a royalty interest (EL6140/6501/6739) (Figures 2 and 4).

CML5 covers an area of approximately 24.7km2 (2,474 hectares (“ha”)), the MPLs total approximately 30ha, while the surrounding exploration tenements (EL5693 and 5983) cover approximately 366km2 and ELA6565 covers approximately 138km2. EL5693 and EL5983 are held by CMPL (through subsidiary Isokind Pty Ltd) and surround the CSA mine. In addition, CMPL has a joint venture with AuriCula Mines Pty Limited (“AuriCula”) covering the Shuttleton and Mt Hope Exploration Licence tenements south of Cobar (CMPL 90% interest). CMPL previously held joint venture interests with Oxley Exploration Pty Limited (“Oxley”) in the Restdown, Restdown South, and Horseshoe tenements southeast of Cobar, but these interests have recently been reduced to a royalty-only interest, being a 1% net smelter return interest on any mineral or metallic product.

Table 3.1

CMPL Tenement Holding (February 2023)

Notes: CML = Consolidated Mining Lease; MPL = Mining Purpose Lease; EL = Exploration Licence; ELA = Exploration Licence Application; ha = hectare; in NSW one EL map unit is one minute of latitude by one minute of longitude or approximately 3km2; both Isokind and Actway are wholly owned subsidiaries of Glencore and application has been made to transfer the Holder of these leases to CMPL

CML5 occupies portions of five Western Land Leases (Nos. 9565, 731, 13844, 3667, 13844) and Crown Land including parts of the Cobar Regeneration Belt. MPL1093 and MPL1094 occupy Crown Land.

The CSA mine lies within the traditional lands of the Ngemba/Ngiyampaa People. A Native Title claim by Ngemba, Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan, and Wayilwan claimants was accepted for registration by the National Native Title Tribunal in April 2012 (NSD38/2019 and NC2012/001). This claim is relevant to the CSA mine operation in that it intersects exploration and mining tenements held by CMPL or its subsidiaries.

The claim has not yet been fully determined, but as of September 2021, it has been agreed by parties to the Federal Court proceedings that Native Title has been extinguished over some 89% of land parcels within the Native Title claim area, which includes Western Lands Lease areas. Native Title has been definitively extinguished over all land allotments lying within the boundary of CML5, but not the other EL’s, and once the Native Title claim has been determined, it is likely that that the several parties holding interests in the land (including the State of New South Wales and CMPL or its subsidiaries will enter into an Indigenous Land Use Agreement to guide the future use and management of land and water within the Native Title claim area that covers the EL’s.

Joint Venture interests held by CSA are outlined for completeness, however, are not considered material for the purposes of this Report.

The ground within the Cobar Basin is tightly held with a number of active explorers. Operating and previously operating mines in the vicinity of CSA’s copper mine include the Endeavor lead-zinc mine (CBH Resources), Peak and Hera gold-copper mines (Aurelia Metals), and the Tritton copper mine (Aeris Resources) (Figure 2).

As well as the tenements held directly by CSA (EL5693 and EL5983) which surround the CSA mine, CMPL has interests in tenements held in joint venture with AuriCula Mines Pty Limited (AuriCula). Until recently CMPL also had a joint venture interest in tenements held by Oxley Exploration Pty Limited (Oxley) (Figure 2), but these interests have now been converted to a royalty-only interest.

The Shuttleton Joint Venture between CSA (90%) and AuriCula (10%), a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Base Metals Limited, covers EL6223 which is located approximately 75km south of Cobar and 30km west of Aurelia’s Hera Mine (Figure 2). The EL includes the historic workings of Crowl Creek and South Shuttleton which produced around 3,000t of copper in the 1900s at average grades of around 5% Cu. Recent exploration has included acquisition of airborne magnetic and radiometric data and completion of soil and auger geochemical sampling and reverse circulation (“RC”) and diamond drilling. Structural interpretations have identified NW trending structures intersecting N-S structures beneath shallow residual cover, with the intersections considered favourable for mineralisation. The geochemical surveys have also identified two anomalous zones coincident with favourable NW trending structures.

The Wirlong copper deposit lies just east of the Shuttleton tenement and is associated with the northwest oriented John Owen fault which also crosses the Shuttleton ground. The Mallee Bull copper-gold prospect lies 30km to the south. A systematic exploration programme to test the potential for base metal mineralisation is proposed for 2022.

Mt Hope Joint Venture (EL6907)

The Mt Hope JV tenements (Mt Hope North and Mt Hope South) lie approximately 130km south of Cobar (Figure 2) and include the historic Mt Hope and Great Central-Comet mines which produced around 10,600t of copper. Gold and silver mineralisation has been identified at Anomaly 3 south of the Great Central prospect. Limited drilling (4 RC holes and 9 diamond holes) has been undertaken. Electromagnetic and magnetic surveys and soil sampling have defined several anomalies warranting further follow up and an auger drilling campaign and further geochemical and geophysical surveys are proposed for 2022.

Restdown, Restdown South and Horseshoe Joint Venture (EL6140, EL6739 and EL6501)

The Restdown, Restdown South, and Horseshoe Oxley tenements comprise EL6140, EL6739 and EL6501 (Figure 2). Exploration activities are managed by Oxley, a wholly owned subsidiary of Helix Resources Limited (“Helix”) and Glencore has not been contributing to the exploration expenditure apart from annual rents and levies. The tenements contain a number of prospects with potential for low grade gold associated with the Restdown Anticline. Recent drill results indicate limited potential for economically mineable resources. CMPL has recently converted its former joint venture interest into a 1% NSR royalty-only interest.

At present, CMPL holds an entitlement of 1,356 megalitres per annum (“MLpa”) of high security water under the Water Sharing Plan for the Macquarie and Cudgegong Regulated Rivers Water Source. These water licences are issued under the NSW Water Management Act 2000. However, during periods of serious drought, CMPL may not be able to access its full share of water under the water-sharing plan.

CMPL also holds groundwater entitlements. However, river water is preferred due to the levels of sulphates and the hardness of the ground water, which renders it unsuitable for use unless treated via reverse osmosis.

Two water storages that receive surface runoff from the catchments are located to the northwest of the mine; Old Mine Dam North and South under Mining Purpose Lease (MPL) MPL1093 and MPL1094 respectively.

A summary of CSA’s mine water licences is provided in Table 3.2

Table 3.2

CSA Mine Water Licences

In NSW, most minerals are owned by the state. Under the Mining Act 1992, royalties are payable on extracted minerals and royalty payments jointly managed by Mining, Exploration and Geoscience within the Department of Regional NSW, and Revenue NSW. For copper and silver mined at the CSA mine, an ad valorem royalty is calculated as 4 per cent of the value of production less allowable deductions.

As part of the sale consideration, MAC will enter into a copper Net Smelter Royalty (“NSR”) in favour of Glencore. This will be at rate of 1.5% for copper only based on the NSR received by CMPL for the life of the mine.

CMPL has recently converted its former Restdown, Restdown South and Horseshoe Joint Venture (EL6140, EL6739 and EL6501) interest into a 1% NSR royalty-only interest.

Please refer to 3.4.4.3 for further information.

The QPs are not aware of any material encumbrances that would impact the current resource or reserve disclosures as presented herein.

CSA operates under several authorisations including:

Mining projects in NSW (including expansions or modifications of existing projects) require development consent under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (“EP&A Act”).

The earliest statutory development consent held by CMPL for the CSA mine is Local Development Consent No. 31/95 and Amendment 97/98:33 approved by CSC in 1995 and 1998 which permits use of the CSA mine site by CMPL. Subsequent expansions and amendments of mining development at CSA mine have all been assessed and administered by the CSC.

Environmental aspects of mineral exploration and mining (including mine rehabilitation and closure) in New South Wales are administered under the NSW Mining Act 1992. A mine is required to prepare and implement a Mine Operations Plan (including a Mine Rehabilitation Plan) approved by the NSW Resources regulator. The most recent Mine Operations Plan for the CSA mine was submitted to the NSW government on 31 March 2021 and approved on 5 May 2021 and was valid to 31 December 2022.

Following the recent introduction of the Mining Amendment (Standard Conditions of Mining Leases – Rehabilitation) Regulation 2021, the MOP for large mines has been replaced by a targeted Rehabilitation Management Plan (“RMP”). The lease holder will provide annual reporting and scheduling of rehabilitation via an Annual Rehabilitation Report and forward programme. This will replace the current requirement for an Annual Environmental Management Report (“AEMR”).

The RMP has been submitted to the regulator and the mine continues to operate under the MOP while the regulator reviews the RMP application. The RMP is considered an improved process from the previous MOP though not expected to have any material change on CSA’s operations.

The Protection of the Environment Operations Act (“POEO Act”) is the statutory instrument through which certain specified activities are regulated by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). Activities are administered by means of Environment Protection Licences (“EPLs”) issued to operators of the premises on which the activities occur. CSA currently holds EPL1864 authorising mining of minerals to a maximum annual production capacity of 2Mtpa.

The most recent EPL was approved in 2017, with a new application lodged in August 2022. The Act requires licences to be reviewed at least every five years; accordingly, EPL1864 was due to be reviewed by the EPA by 30 June 2022, however this has not yet occurred and the onus is on the regulator to undertake the review. There are no required activities by CSA and given the historical operations of the mine and long-standing, regular interactions with the regulator, no material changes are expected to occur as a result of the review.

The QP’s are not aware of any current material violations or fines imposed under the Regulations of the Mining Act 1992 that apply to the CSA mine.

With relation to mining titles, the QP’s are not aware of any significant risks that may affect access, title, or the right or ability to perform work in relation to the CSA mine.

The CSA mine is approximately 260m above sea level and is located in an area of low undulating north-northwest (“NNW”) trending rises and is associated with a broad, prominent hill, Elouera Hill, which rises approximately 30m above the surrounding landscape. The mine lies close to the local drainage divide between the catchments of Sandy Creek in the southwest and Yanda Creek to the northeast.

The Cobar area has been impacted by mining and agricultural activities since the 1880s. The existing landscape surrounding the CSA mine is characterised by mining infrastructure, tailings storage facilities, shafts, disturbed grasslands and soil and rock stockpiles. The native vegetation of the area has been impacted by these activities with the historic removal of much of the native vegetation by clearing and over-grazing, resulting in erosion and extensive colonisation of the native vegetation. This has created a dense regrowth, referred to as ‘woody weeds’ or Invasive Native Species. The landscape has become highly modified and vulnerable to wind and water erosion, particularly those areas devoid of vegetation ground cover protection. The region surrounding the CSA mine is dominated by rangeland agriculture.

The CSA mine is located 11km northwest of the town of Cobar, in western NSW, Australia (Figure 1), approximately 600km west-northwest of Sydney. The mine is accessed via sealed highways from Sydney to Cobar and sealed urban roads from Cobar to the mine site.

Road access to the mine site from Sydney is via National Highway No. A32, the Barrier Highway, a high-quality rural highway to Cobar and from there to the mine site on sealed urban roads.

Cobar is serviced by a sealed airstrip with commercial flights three times per week to and from Sydney.

The site is serviced by a rail line (Figure 1) which allows transport of concentrate product to the Port of Newcastle for export. Concentrate is loaded into rail wagons at the site and railed to Newcastle along the NSW rail network. Railing to Port Kembla, south of Wollongong, is also an option.

The climate of Cobar is semi-arid with evaporation typically exceeding rainfall by a ratio of 6:1. The mean annual rainfall for Cobar is approximately 400mm. During summer months, maximum temperatures typically range between 28-39ºC and during the winter months, maximum temperatures typically range between 13-20ºC. Minimum temperatures in the winter months typically range between 5-9ºC. Rainfall and temperature records have been recorded from May 1962 and evaporation from November 1967.

Power supply to the site is via a 132kV transmission line from Essential Energy’s western NSW network. The Essential Energy network is supplied by a mix of conventional and renewable power generation, including the 102 megawatt (“MW”) and 132MW solar farms in the nearby towns of Nyngan and Nevertire. A 22kV line is also connected to the site from Cobar and is available for limited supply in emergencies. Further backup power is supplied by diesel power generators.

The majority of water supply for the operation is provided by the Cobar Water Board from a weir on the Bogan River at Nyngan (Figure 1) through a network of pumps and pipelines. Additional water is available from tailings water recycling, surface water capture and a borefield installed in 2019. Water demand is around 3 megalitres per day (“ML/day”) in summer, with most water supplied by the Cobar Water Board system. The borefield has capacity for up to 1.3ML/day. The Cobar Water Board system is adequate to supply the operation up to around 1.2Mtpa; the borefield is only required during periods of drought or should a plant feed rate in excess of 1.2Mtpa be considered for extended periods.

Additional water can be secured by relacing the pipeline from the Cobar Water Board system to the mine site that currently has approximately 20% line losses.

The majority of the workforce is accommodated in Cobar with some senior staff employed on a fly in/fly out (“FIFO”) or drive in/drive out (“DIDO”) arrangement. No workforce accommodation is provided at the mine site.

Site buildings comprise site offices, warehouses, and services buildings. Site services include power and water reticulation facilities, communications systems and fuel storage and dispensing facilities.

CSA mine currently operates one tailings storage facility, the South Tailings Storage Facility (“STSF”) (Figure 4), comprising the main STSF (approximately 63ha) and the STSF Extension (19ha). In 2010, the STSF was upgraded to alter the deposition method to a central depositional system. This method provides substantial water savings and will result in a final landform more amenable to rehabilitation. There will also be a reduction in the requirement for suitable material for tailings dam wall lifts and final capping; final topsoil requirements for rehabilitation will be lower than with the old multi-spigot perimeter depositional method and there will be an increase in tailings dam integrity as the resultant solids will contain less moisture.

After several lifts of the perimeter embankment, the current wall lift (Lift 9) is expected to have deposition capacity through to December 2024. One further wall lift (Lift 10) is scheduled and is expected to provide enough capacity for the Reserve life of mine.

To support potential mine life extension beyond the current Reserves, the existing STSF can support an additional lift (Lift 11) which would provide storage capacity until approximately 2032 (at a nominal 1.3 Mtpa production rate).

Tailings from the process plant flotation circuit are thickened in a high-rate thickener, and the underflow is sent to the paste fill plant or to the STSF. Supernatant water is collected in a dedicated decant dam for recycling to the process plant circuit.

The STSF appears to be well operated with no significant issues in relation to the facility’s integrity. CSA has commenced a study to install buttressing in specific areas on the STSF wall to improve the Factor of Safety (“FOS”) to the Post Seismic (Liquified Strength). The current early phase estimate to rectify the FOS is approximately A$5M and is expected to be completed in 2023.

The North Tailings Storage Facility (NTSF) (132.9ha) which lies adjacent to the northern boundary of the STSF, has been decommissioned and has been excised from the CSA Mine Lease (CML5); NTSF is owned by, and is the responsibility of, the New South Wales government.

The CSA deposit was discovered in 1871 and named after the nationalities of its initial owners (a Cornishman, a Scotsman and an Australian). Development began in the early 1900s, but it was not until 1961 that a significant resource was proven up by Broken Hill South Pty Ltd. The site transitioned to an underground operation in 1965 with first underground production in 1967.

The mine was acquired by Conzinc Riotinto Australia Pty Ltd in 1980 and sold to Golden Shamrock Mines Pty Ltd (“GSM”) in 1993. GSM was subsequently acquired by Ashanti Gold Fields in the same year and the mine continued to operate until 1997, when the operation ran into financial difficulties and was placed in receivership.

The CSA mine was acquired by Glencore in 1999. Cobar Management Pty Limited (CMPL), a wholly owned Australian subsidiary of Glencore Operations Australia Pty Ltd, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore, is the direct owner and operator of the mine (and is the entity to be acquired by MAC). As part of its acquisition in 1999, Glencore received a number of concessions from the NSW government, whereby several components of the previous mining operations were excised from the mining lease such that no liability arising from these components transferred to CMPL. The excised components included the Northern Tailings Storage Facility (NTSF), a mine subsidence area and adjacent waste rock dumps.

Underground operations were resumed, and the mine has now operated under Glencore management for over 20 years.

CSA is one of Australia’s deepest underground mines, extending to 1.9km in depth and Australia’s highest grade copper operation. Mine production in 2022 totalled approximately 37kt of copper and 446ktoz of silver (“Ag”) in copper concentrates. Table 5.1 shows the historical production over the last six years.

Table 5.1

CSA Mine – Production History 2017-2022

After the initial discovery in 1871 a further discovery of copper-rich ore occurred in 1905, however, a slump in metal prices and an underground fire led to the closure of the mine in 1920. Zinc Corp Ltd (through its subsidiary Enterprise Exploration) explored the area from 1947 to 1957 and commenced re-development work in 1952. Cobar Mines Pty Ltd was created in 1956, mining recommenced in 1962 and production commenced in 1965 from the Eastern (Cu-Zn) and Western (Pb-Zn-Ag) System lenses.

The QTS System was discovered in the mid-1970s with the QTS North lenses being main source of the copper ore at the time. Under the various owners of Conzinc Riotinto of Australia (CRA) in 1980, Golden Shamrock Mines (GSM) in 1993 and Glencore in 1999, ongoing periods of exploration occurred including geochemical and geophysical data acquisition, shallow RC drilling and deeper diamond drilling.

Extensive geochemical soil sampling was undertaken across CML5 in the mid-1970s, 1993 to 1995, and from 2006 to 2008. Pulps from these campaigns have been re-assayed for multi-elements with current laboratory methods in 2021.

BEHRE DOLBEAR

Geophysical surveys across CML5 include early two-dimensional induced polarisation (“2DIP,”,) ground magnetics and gravity, airborne electromagnetics (“EM”), and more recent Induced polarisation (“IP”) and resistivity; magnetotelluric (“MT”) data was acquired by Geophysical Resources and Services Pty Ltd (“GRS”) using the M.I.M Distributed Acquisition System (MIMDAS). Ongoing surveys include downhole electromagnetics (“DHEM”) of diamond drill holes and fixed loop EM (“FLEM”) surveys in 2021 and 2022. Refer to Section 7.3 for additional information on non-drilling related exploration.

The CSA deposit has been drilled using fully cored diamond drill holes drilled either from surface or underground, primarily using NQ size (47.6mm diameter core). The deposits have been defined by over 6,500 holes totalling approximately 900km of core, although data from many of the historical drill holes is not used for current resource estimation, being located in the upper mined out levels of the deposit. Drilling ranges from as far back as 1950 to the present; however, the bulk of the drilling contributing to resource estimation has been completed since 2000. The diamond holes for estimation prior to 2000 are located predominantly in the upper levels, and represent around 51% of drill metreage; diamond drilling post 2000 is focussed principally on the lower levels and represents approximately 49% of drill metres. The average drillhole depth is approximately 160m (surface and underground) with the maximum over 1,100m.

Relatively shallow RC drilling along strike of the mine to the north and south has delineated geochemically anomalous zones from prospects such as Spotted Leopard and Pink Panther south of the mine to prospects GSM and Kendi north of the mine, and Western Gossan and Block 19 immediately west of the mine.

Diamond drilling around the mine (such as at Western Gossan and QTS North), and at prospects such as Tailings Dam and Stoney Tank on the eastern side of CML5, has continued to intersect base metal mineralisation.

Table 5.2 summarizes the various types of surface and underground drilling conducted at CSA over the last ten years.

Table 5.2

Surface and Underground Drilling History

BEHRE DOLBEAR

The CSA mine has a long history of exploration and operations and the geology is well documented and generally well understood. The CSA deposit is located within the Cobar mineral field, in the Cobar Basin (Figure 5). Mineralisation is hosted in the Silurian-age CSA Siltstone, a member of the Amphitheatre Group of the Cobar Supergroup sequence of rocks and is associated with zones of deformation and shearing. The CSA Siltstone consists of a sequence of rhythmic bedded siltstones and sandstones. The rock sequence was structurally deformed during the development of the Cobar Basin in the early Devonian period.

The Cobar mineral field is a mineralised belt 80km north-south and up to 40km wide, containing copper, gold, and lead-zinc mineralisation along the eastern margin of the Cobar Basin, one of many north-south grabens that developed in the Lachlan Fold Belt (“LFB”) during the Siluro-Devonian period. The LFB is a complex orogenic belt which developed at the margins of an evolving tectonic plate. Regional crustal extension of the LFB in the late Silurian created a series of north-south trending deep water basins and troughs that, in the Cobar region, included the Cobar Basin and further south the Raast and Mt Hope Troughs. The Cobar Basin is fault bounded on all sides and studies indicate that reactivation of the faults played a significant role in providing fluid pathways for mineralising fluids and dilational zones for the formation of the mineral deposits.

Rocks of volcanic derivation are rare, and igneous intrusions are limited to a few small porphyritic bodies at the southern extremity of the field. Rocks in the Cobar Basin have undergone low grade regional metamorphism to lower greenschist facies.

The Cobar Basin is a well-endowed metalliferous province with a diverse range of, predominantly sediment- hosted, mineral deposits. Most of the known deposits are located adjacent to the eastern, fault-controlled, basin margin. Significant deposits from north to south include the Endeavor silver-lead-zinc deposit, the CSA copper deposit, The Peak, Perseverance, New Occidental and New Cobar gold-copper deposits, the Nymagee copper- lead-zinc deposit, the Hera gold-copper-lead-zinc deposit, and the Mineral Hill gold-copper deposit.

The known mineral deposits are all structurally controlled and typically occur as narrow, short strike length pipes, lenses and veins (ie. a small surface area) but are notable for their considerable vertical extent. The location of the deposits along or adjacent to the basin margin Rookery Fault and sub-parallel faults suggests migration of fluids from basement sources up the basin margin fault.

The principal operating mines in the area are CSA (Cu with minor Pb/Zn), Endeavor (Pb/Zn/Ag), The Peak (Au/Cu), Hera (Au/Cu), and Tritton (Cu) (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The deposits of the Cobar field occur exclusively within the Nurri and Amphitheatre Groups of the Cobar Supergroup (see Table 6.1). The Nurri Group unconformably overlies, and is in faulted contact with, basement rocks of the Cambro-Ordovician Girilambone Group, along the eastern margin of the Cobar Basin. The Nurri Group comprises the basal Chesney Formation, consisting of a thick turbidite sequence with a coarse basal conglomerate, and the Great Cobar Slate, consisting predominantly of mudstones, siltstones, and fine-grained sandstones. South of Cobar, the contact between the Chesney Formation and the Great Cobar Slate is locally faulted, and this contact hosts a number of gold deposits in a series of en-echelon sub-vertical shears.

The Amphitheatre Group, a deeper water facies to the west, partially interfingers with, and partially overlies, the Nurri Group. At the base of the Amphitheatre Group is the CSA Siltstone, which consists of a thinly bedded turbiditic sequence of carbonaceous siltstones and mudstones with fine-grained sandstones. The CSA Siltstone is the only unit of known economic significance within the Amphitheatre Group and hosts the CSA and Endeavor mineralisation. 

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Table 6.1

Cobar Stratigraphic Column

Note: marked unconformity between Cambro-Ordovician and Silurian sediments

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The CSA mineralisation occurs in five known systems: Eastern, Western, QTS North (QTSN), QTS Central (QTSC) and QTS South (QTSS) (Figures 3 and 6). The mineralisation is structurally controlled, associated with fault/shear zones and arranged in an en-echelon pattern. The Cobar Fault and the Chesney Fault are the major controlling faults at the CSA mine. The mineralised systems occur at the intersections of two sets of steeply dipping (~85°) structures, a dominant north-northeast (“NNE”) trending set (S1) and a NNW trending set (S2). These two structural trends formed due to east-west compression leading to a complex fault/shear system with dilation zones (S3) at intersections. The NNE shears can be up to 100m wide and contain parallel quartz veining of variable intensity.

Within the five mineralised systems, multiple lenses of mineralisation occur; lenses typically are 5-30m wide, have short (<300m) strike lengths but long vertical continuity down plunge (>1,000m). The lenses are interpreted by CMPL as discrete parallel to sub-parallel stacked lenses (Figure 6).

The host rock for the mineralisation, the CSA Siltstone, contains thinly bedded siltstones and mudstones with fine to medium grained sandstones. Bedding strikes north-northwest and dips steeply west. Cleavage trends north and dips steeply east.

QTSN is developed from 600m below surface and is the main mineralised system at CSA, currently containing around 65% of the total copper metal in the estimated Mineral Resource and accounting for approximately 80% of current production tonnes. QTSN consists of around 30 separate lenses which trend north-south and extend down plunge from 600m to >2,000m. To date, the deepest mineralised intercept at QTSN is at around 8,050m Relative Level (“RL”), 2,200m below surface with surface at 10,250mRL. The main lenses consist of semi- massive to massive chalcopyrite bounded to the north and south by zones of chalcopyrite and quartz veining.

QTSC was discovered in 2014; it is located 300m south of QTSN and is developed from a depth of around 1,200m below surface (Figure 6). The system consists of two principal lenses with strike lengths of 150m and widths of 10m.

QTSS is located approximately 200m south of QTSC at a depth of around 700m below surface. QTSS is essentially mined out except for the QR1 lens which was discovered in 2005. This lens lies below and to the south of the mined-out area and has a down plunge extent in excess of 400m, a strike length of 90m and a maximum width of 15m. The mineralisation consists of a zone of quartz-chalcopyrite-chlorite veining.

The Eastern system is located 100m west of QTSN, starting at 250m below surface and consisting of two principal lenses with strike lengths of 50-80m and widths of 10m. Copper mineralisation occurs as quartz-sulphide veining in chlorite-altered siltstone, with occasional pods of massive sulphide.

The Western system outcrops at surface and approximately the upper 100m of the sulphide mineralisation has been oxidised. The system is hosted in pervasively silicified and chloritised siltstone. Mineralisation occurs as zones of quartz-sulphide veining with a number of small high-grade pods of copper or lead-zinc. The lead-zinc mineralisation is concentrated in the upper portion of the system with copper dominant at depth. There are four narrow, copper-rich lenses which have a strike length of around 45m, an average width of 7m and extend down plunge up to 200m.

Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the dominant copper sulphide phase in all five systems. Copper mineralisation occurs in three distinct forms: as massive sulphide with dominant chalcopyrite and minor pyrrhotite (iron sulphide) and cubanite (CuFe2S3), as semi-massive sulphide with either quartz or chlorite alteration and associated with quartz- sulphide veining of variable intensity. Massive sulphide contacts can be sharp, but the majority of mineralised lenses have gradational contacts with a mineralisation envelope occurring around the more massive mineralisation.

Cubanite is present as a minor copper species, mainly in QTSC. Sphalerite (zinc sulphide) and galena (lead sulphide) are also present but principally only in the upper part of the Western system which is the only system of the five that is exposed at surface. There are no lead-zinc lenses included in the CSA resources or the Cube re- stated Mineral Resource. Silver (Ag), grading 10-50 grams per tonne (“g/t”) is present as acanthite (Ag2S) and shows a weak to moderate correlation with copper. Good metallurgical recoveries are achieved and a high-quality copper concentrate produced grading around 26-27% Cu with silver credits.

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The CSA deposit was discovered in 1871 with a further discovery of copper-rich mineralization in 1905, however, a slump in metal prices and an underground fire led to the closure of the mine in 1920. Zinc Corp Ltd (through its subsidiary Enterprise Exploration) explored the area from 1947 to 1957 and commenced re-development work in 1952. Cobar Mines Pty Ltd was created in 1956, mining recommenced in 1962 and production commenced in 1965 from the Eastern (Cu-Zn) and Western (Pb-Zn-Ag) System lenses.

The QTS System was discovered in the mid-1970s with the QTS North lenses being main source of the copper ore. CMPL came under the ownership of Conzinc Riotinto of Australia (CRA) in 1980, Golden Shamrock Mines (GSM) in 1993 and Glencore in 1999. During this time, there have been ongoing periods of geochemical and geophysical data acquisition, shallow RC drilling and deeper diamond drilling.

Extensive geochemical soil sampling was undertaken across CML5 in the mid-1970s, 1993 to 1995, and from 2006 to 2008. Pulps from these campaigns have been re-assayed for multi-elements with current laboratory methods in 2021.

Geophysical surveys across CML5 include early 2DIP, ground magnetics and gravity, airborne EM, more recent IP/MT (MIMDAS), ongoing DHEM of diamond drill holes and fixed loop EM (FLEM) in 2021 and 2022.