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Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) is walking away from its drilling at the Sesmarias diamond site in Portugal after recent assay results failed to meet “technical requirements.”
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The $4.86 billion Australian miner, which operates digs in Western Australia, Spain, and Botswana, originally shook hands with explorer Avrupa Minerals (ASX:AVU) in 2019 to work on the diamond site it’s now abandoning.
That deal included an 85% stake in Sesmarias for Sandfire – this is also being handed back.
“Sandfire has assessed the results and while a number of mineralised massive sulphide intersections were returned, the results of the 2024 program did not meet the technical hurdles required to progress,” the company explained.
After these results – and, of course, pending “necessary regulatory approvals” – Sandfire is wiping its hands of the Portuguese foray and leaving Avrupa to its work.
HotCopper now expects Sandfire to double down on its core mining digs, including exploration across the projects it completely owns in the Iberian Pyrite Project.
It makes sense too, considering the last twelve months were a bit rocky for the miner.
The bottom line has been Sandfire wasn’t profitable through much of 2024, though the last half decade has seen the Aussie miner grow its revenue more than 18%. Its copper and zinc production has, for the most part, stayed in line with expectations and at times even beat estimates through that period.
The $4.9B miner was recently upgraded to “neutral” by several brokers; this tightening of the belt may see things reassessed there in the next few weeks.
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Midway through last year, the miner had to navigate a major blunder after accidentally disturbing an Indigenous site after previous management led a siloed workforce that failed to follow ESG obligations and compliance.
In a parting comment, Sandfire wrote: “Whilst our association with the Alvalade JV is coming to an end, we thank Avrupa and its team for all their work.”
Sandfire will open at $10.59 a share on Monday; futures tip a 0.09% dip in price.
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