Surge Copper (TSXV: SURG) has put a price tag on its Berg copper project, and it’s a large one. The company released a pre-feasibility study for the wholly owned project in central British Columbia this morning, pegging the after-tax net present value at $4.6 billion using a 8% discount rate, with an internal rate of return of 24% and a payback period of 2.9 years.
Those base case figures rest on long term price assumptions of US$4.75 per pound copper, US$20.00 per pound molybdenum, US$45 per ounce silver and US$3,500 per ounce gold.
Run the same model at June spot prices, copper at US$6.45 and molybdenum at US$30.00, among them, and the economics rise considerably, lifting the after-tax NPV to $9.4 billion, the IRR to 36% while cutting payback to 1.8 years.
The study outlines a conventional open pit operation feeding a 120,000 tonne per day concentrator over a 28 year mine life. Total output is projected at 8.6 billion pounds of copper equivalent, of which 4.9 billion pounds is copper, alongside 602 million pounds of molybdenum and 89 million ounces of silver. Production is front loaded, with the first five steady state years averaging 416 million pounds of copper equivalent annually before settling to a life of mine average of 308 million pounds.
Costs come in at the lower end of the curve. Surge estimates C1 co-product cash costs of US$1.95 per payable pound of copper equivalent, while strong by-product credits push cash costs to negative US$0.17 per payable pound of copper. C3 figures, which fold in sustaining capital, land at US$2.10 and US$0.10 per pound respectively. The low cost profile is helped by a modest 2.0:1 strip ratio and access to BC Hydro’s grid via a proposed 230 kV transmission line, with ore moving to the plant by downhill overland conveyor.
Building it will not be cheap. Initial capital is estimated at $4.7 billion over a three-year construction period, with a further $1.7 billion in sustaining capital across the mine life.
Chief Executive Leif Nilsson said the study materially advances one of Canada’s most significant undeveloped copper projects and provides a defined foundation for entering the environmental assessment and future feasibility work. Premier David Eby also weighed in, saying the province is encouraged by projects like Berg to help responsibly develop critical minerals.
Next, Surge plans to submit an Initial Project Description to begin provincial and federal assessments, alongside a 2026 field program.
Surge Copper last traded at $0.74 on the TSX Venture.
