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    South32’s US$35M Arctic copper push: design and permitting notes for mine teams

    January 22, 2026|

    Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

    South32’s US$35M Arctic copper push: design and permitting notes for mine teams

    First reported on MINING.com

    30 Second Briefing

    South32 is funding a US$35 million work programme at the high-grade Arctic polymetallic deposit in Alaska’s Ambler district through its 50:50 Ambler Metals joint venture with Trilogy Metals, within the 1,900 km² Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects that also host the Bornite copper deposit. The 2026 field season will focus on geotechnical and condemnation drilling at Arctic to refine mine design, infrastructure siting and long-term production planning, while upgrading the Bornite camp for multi‑year operations. South32 has also sold about US$17.8 million of Trilogy shares to the US Department of War, giving Washington a 10% stake ahead of a planned independent JV management team and intensified permitting and technical studies.

    Technical Brief

    • 2026 drilling at Arctic explicitly split between geotechnical and condemnation holes for mine and infrastructure layouts.
    • Bornite camp to be physically upgraded for continuous, multi‑year occupation and drilling logistics.
    • Geotechnical drilling at Bornite scheduled to commence in the 2026 summer field window.
    • Ambler Metals plans to re‑establish an independent management team in 2026 to run Upper Kobuk development.
    • New team mandated to advance Arctic permitting, complete technical studies and execute mine‑design drilling programmes.
    • Community engagement, workforce development and local participation are defined as explicit workstreams for the next phase.

    Our Take

    In our database, this $35M work programme at the Arctic deposit sits alongside South32’s recent exits from Cerro Matoso (ferronickel) and the planned care-and-maintenance of the Mozal aluminium smelter, signalling a capital rotation away from mature base-metals and aluminium assets into copper-focused growth in jurisdictions like Alaska and the USA.

    The Ambler Metals 50/50 JV with Trilogy Metals gives South32 copper exposure in the United States at a time when Washington has taken a 10% equity stake in Trilogy, which is likely to strengthen the project’s strategic positioning in any future federal permitting or infrastructure discussions in north‑western Alaska.

    With South32 reporting a 17% jump in quarterly manganese output while simultaneously backing the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects, the group is effectively balancing near-term cash flow from bulk commodities against longer-dated copper and gold optionality, a pattern also visible across several of the 186 copper‑keyword pieces in our coverage.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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