There’s method in the sequencing too. The company started near‑pit at Great Australia where approvals are clean and success pays back into mine planning. Then it moved north to ride the Aquila momentum while the assays from Cloncurry were working through the labs. Next up will be Wallace North where those EM plates should tell us if the shallow oxide pit has a decent sulphide engine underneath – and notably, during the first 10m deep scrape pre-Administration, sulphides WERE present. Across calendar 2025, True North is talking roughly fifteen thousand metres of RC over the two hubs – a drill‑first budget that flips the pre‑administration playbook on its head — no fanfare, just metres.
The Cloncurry hub is more than just a small pit too. The company controls an SX plant, crusher, heap‑leach and tailings facilities on the mining lease – all in care and maintenance – and that matters if the oxide inventory grows. If sulphides are the real prize – and they likely are, tolling options exist in the district and a fresh‑build only gets a run if the ounces and the economics demand it. The plan is to see Wallace North and the near‑mine systems prove themselves before anyone dusts off a ribbon‑cutting speech.
Notably, the company has stopped focusing on an imminent restart – partly because the ASX demanded it in the re-listing and partly because it has a new broader plan to double the previous tonnes per annum mined and focus on building blue sky at Mt Oxide whilst scrubbing up Cloncurry to the point where the heap‑leach will churn out money without too much risk ahead of the sulphide story. Cash as at 30 June 2025 was about $13 million with no interest‑bearing debt – enough runway to finish the 2025 program without playing games.
Copper has done its bit in the background. The red metal ripped to record levels in May before giving some of it back, but the structural tightness argument into 2026 still holds up and Queensland sulphides work just fine at mid‑cycle prices. If Aquila grows and Wallace North’s conductors behave, you suddenly have three different ways to make money from the same postcode – shallow oxide cashflows from heap‑leach with very little capex required, deeper sulphides via toll treating and a potentially blue sky copper engine at Mt Oxide which includes prospects like Aquila. Ironically had True North not slipped into Admin it may not have spent so much time and money exploring Mt Oxide which will likely deliver the real excitement to the story in the end.
None of this is risk‑free. Metallurgy, permits, tolling terms and execution can all kick shins in. But True North is no longer trying to sprint with a weight attached to its belt. Its Administration chapter is in the rear‑view mirror now, the capital structure is clean, the register is heavier with long looking money and the metres are going into the most obvious places.
If the next few quarters deliver continuity at Aquila and a deeper engine at Wallace North, the Admin torture chamber might not look quite so torturous and Queensland copper has a habit of rewarding patience. True North is now playing the long game however with a ready made heap‑leach operation in its back pocket and plenty of tolling options for deeper sulphide ore nearby, that long game might turn out to be not so long after all.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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