CuFe (ASX:CUF) said the scoping study at the 55%-owned Orlando open pit cutback project, part of the wider Orlando and Gecko gold-copper project in the Northern Territory, estimated 39,449 tonnes of payable copper production as well as 167,419 ounces of payable gold production, according to a Tuesday Australian bourse filing.

It also estimated a total revenue of AU$1.26 billion, operating costs of AU$373 million, and a life of mine of five years.

An increase in underlying commodity prices led the firm to consider restarting operations to extract the remaining ore utilizing a new plant.

Its initial focus is on the development of the Orlando open pit project with a proposed plant of 850,000 tonnes-per-annum producing a concentrate for export via the Darwin port, or with a potential alternative of processing at Mt. Isa.