Proposed White Pine Copper mine sees $75M investment

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ONTONAGON, Mich. (WLUC) - Kinterra Capital Corporation announced in a Tuesday press release that it has secured $75 million for the proposed White Pine North Project.

The White Pine project is a proposed modern underground mine for silver and copper in the Western U.P.

Toronto-based Kinterra entered a joint-venture agreement with Highland Copper Company, Inc. in 2023 to support the advancement of the project. At the time, Highland estimated construction would begin in 2026, after permits were submitted and a feasibility study was done.

This March, Highland Copper announced that it sold its 34% interest in the White Pine North Project to Kinterra for aggregate consideration of $30.1 million. The total consideration consisted of $11.8 million in cash at closing. Highland said it planned to put those proceeds towards its Copperwood Mine project instead.

Meanwhile, in Kinterra’s Tuesday release, it said the co-investment financing totaling $75 million is expected to close on or before June 1. With the PFS in progress and the royalty restructured, Kinterra says the co-investment fully funds White Pine Copper’s current work program to continue advancing engineering, permitting, and stakeholder workstreams toward a Final Investment Decision.

The company said the investment follows “significant development” the company has done so far at the project site, including an updated pre-feasibility study that is expected to be complete in its early third quarter.

Kinterra says White Pine is an extension of the past mine of the same name which operated in the historic Copper Range District for more than 40 years and produced more than 4.5 billion pounds of copper.

The company says the new project has an expected mine life of 26 years.

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