Why the Sandfire (ASX:SFR) share price is tumbling today

With the EV and renewable energy revolution in full swing, everyone's talking about copper.

Bernd Struben

Author bio Bernd Struben earned his BA in economics from the University of Michigan in 1991, with post-graduate studies in environmental economics at the University of Connecticut. Over the years he’s written about and analysed the tourism industry in the Caribbean; Europe’s commercial real estate markets; and, since moving to Australia in 2010, global and Aussie share markets. Bernd studies geopolitical and macroeconomic trends, alongside sector and company specific data, to gauge what he believes could be tomorrow's best investments. In his free time, you might find Bernd at the beach with his family or working on his next science fiction novel. Areas of expertise Australian and global share markets Macroeconomic and geopolitical trends Real estate Education Economics, University of Michigan Favorite investment quote "The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'This time it's different." — Sir John Templeton

Published June 16, 2021 11:13 am AEST

The Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) share price is tumbling in morning trade, down 4%.

Below we take a look at the ASX copper share's latest resource update.

white arrow dropping down representing the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX — Image source: Getty Images

What resource update did Sandfire announce?

The Sandfire share price is moving lower after the company updated the market on its Ore Reserve and Mineral Resource for its DeGrussa Operations, located in Western Australia.

The DeGrussa Operations encompass the DeGrussa Copper-Gold Mine (DeGrussa Mine) and the Monty Copper-Gold Mine (Monty Mine).

The company said grade control drilling completed in 2020 provided the basis for its updated interpretation of the orebody and the Mineral Resource estimate. Based on that updated Mineral Resource, the Monty Ore Reserve decreased 0.4Mt and 28kt of contained copper and 22koz of contained gold year-on-year.

Sandfire reported its DeGrussa Ore Reserve was reduced by roughly 1.2Mt and 49kt of contained copper year-on-year – mostly due to annual mining depletion.

Commenting on the updated DeGrussa and Monty Ore Reserve, Sandfire's Managing Director, Karl Simich said:

Based on current mining and processing rates, the current Ore Reserves at DeGrussa and Monty will allow high-grade, low-cost copper production to continue at full pace right through to the September Quarter of 2022.

Based on current mining and processing rates, the current Ore Reserves at DeGrussa and Monty will allow high-grade, low-cost copper production to continue at full pace right through to the September Quarter of 2022.

Simich added that DeGrussa will produce at capacity right up until the company completes construction and gets ready to start operations at its new Motheo Project in Botswana. That's expected to happen in early 2023.

And Sandfire isn't throwing in the towel on DeGrussa. Simich said, "We are also maintaining a significant exploration push across our extensive tenement holdings surrounding the DeGrussa and Monty Mines with extensive programs of AC, RC and diamond drilling underway."

Sandfire share price snapshot

Sandfire Resources has widely outperformed the market over the past 12 months, with shares up 45% compared to a gain of 24% on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

Buoyed by soaring copper prices, the Sandfire share price has continued to gain strongly in 2021, up 30% year-to-date.

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