MINING IN SOUTH AMERICA
• • • •
SILVER GOLD COPPER LITHIUM
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Our goal: Discover the 4th major gold
deposit in the El Indio Gold Belt
TSX-V:MBG
Malbex Highlights Exceptional leadership with proven track record Strategic location in close proximity to Barrick’s three large gold deposits Initial drill results, including 142 m grading 0.88 g/t Au and 13.7 g/t Ag, support potential for bulktonnage style mineralization Well funded – just closed a $12.6 M financing
Three Malbex Projects in the e El Indio Gold Belt San Juan
El Indio Gold Belt
Mendoza
Los Amarillos Pascua-Lama/Barrick 17.8 M oz Au @ 1.44 g/t Veladero/Barrick 14.2 M oz Au @ 0.88 g/t
Los Despoblados El Indio/Barrick 4.5 M oz Au @ 8.33 g/t
Argentina San Juan
Del Carmen
Pro-mining jurisdiction of San Juan province, Argentina
For more information: Marla Gale, Investor Relations, Toll Free 1-866-648-1814, Email ir@malbex.ca
www.malbex.ca
Buenos Aires A
Santiago
>30M oz Au in just 3 mines
Argentina
Volume 13 | Number 3 | Special Edition 2010 Vancouver, British Columbia www.ReportOnMining.com
When the Spanish first arrived in South America, it was the gold and silver they found which encouraged them to conquer more lands. As a result of the more recent political stability, combined with the ever increasing search for more mining opportunities, a fair number of companies have seen their exploratory efforts rewarded. Having historical records has aided the quest. Currently, a large percentage of the announcements coming across my desk are detailing the success of drilling activity in various regions of the continent. As a result of the success, many companies are now spreading their resources across both North and South America in search of that feasible mining opportunity. With numerous established producers and an ever-increasing demand for more metals, it’s highly unlikely that those companies currently exploring will find the region to themselves. Those presented in this issue who are making strides are definitely looking over their shoulder. The opportunity for remarkable success will certainly continue to attract more exploration and of course result in more producers. Plus there is the likelihood of joint ventures and the inevitable takeovers. There is little doubt that investors should be paying attention. Opportunities abound.
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South American Silver Corp
10 12
Editorial Mining in South America by Grant Campbell
14 16
Guyana Goldfields Inc.
Lithium Americas Corp.
Antares Minerals Inc.
Free Digital Subscription www.tiny.cc/rom The information in Planning for Profits - Report on Mining has been carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. www.ReportOnMining.com www.ReportOnMining.com
Summer 2010 - Digital Edition | Planning for Profits | Report on Mining 3
S
outh American Silver Corp. is a growth oriented mineral exploration company focused on creating long-term shareholder value through the development of two properties located in South America. The company’s most advanced project is the 100% owned Malku Khota silverindium property located in Bolivia. The Malku Khota project is one of the world’s largest silver and indium deposits. The property is accessible by road with commercial scale power available less than 15 kilometres from the site. South American Silver also owns the Escalones project — a large scale copper-gold property in Chile located approximately 100 kilometres south-east of Santiago. The property is located in the same mining district as the El Teniente mine, the world’s largest underground copper mine. These two potentially world class deposits offer investors excellent opportunity to participate in precious, specialty and base metal development and production. The current resource calculation indicates five ounces of silver per share offering shareholders excellent exposure to rising precious metal prices.
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Indium: The High Tech Metal of the 21st Century The Malku Khota deposit is unusual due to the high concentration of indium available in the ore in addition to the abundant silver. There are a few primary indium deposits in the world; however the majority of global production is produced as a by-product of zinc refining. As estimated in the 2009 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), indium is expected to account for approximately 18% of the revenue from the Malku Khota mining operation at $530/kg. At recent higher prices indium may become as much as 50% of the company’s cash flow. Due to its unique optical and electrical properties as a transparent semiconductor the use of indium in flat panel LCD screens, TVs, smart phones, LED lights and solar panels has been increasing rapidly over the past decade. The explosion of these products over the past few years has pushed the price of indium to as high as $1,000 per kilogram while it currently trades around the $650 U.S. per kilogram level. Indium demand is forecast to continue to grow with increased use in a variety of technologies, particularly as the Asian economic expansion continues to create new consumers. A recent U.N. study highlighted indium as a metal potentially subject to shortages due to rapidly growing demand, lower primary production and low recycling rates. There are few new sources of the metal coming on stream to keep up with the growing demand which may result in substantially higher prices over time to encourage new suppliers to the market. The Malku Khota deposit is expected to be one of the largest producers of indium and may represent 10% or more of the world’s mined production.
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Photos (clockwise): Malku Khota project team inspecting drill core; Malku Khota, Limosna Ridge looking northeast; High grade silver discovery outcrop at Malku Khota; Diamond drilling at Malku Khota.tif; South American road construction carried out by local workers.
A positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on the Malku Khota project produced by the well-known consulting firm of Pincock, Allen & Holt Inc. was released in March, 2009. The PEA includes a NI 43-101 compliant reserve estimate with an indicated resource of 144.6 million ounces of silver and 845,000 kilograms of indium and an additional inferred resource of 177.8 million ounces of silver and 968,000 kilograms of indium. The report is based on an approximately 75 drill holes with the deposit open for expansion both laterally and at depth. www.ReportOnMining.com
Since the completion of the PEA the company has discovered a significant new mineralized zone. The newly discovered zone is located between the previously identified Sucre and Wara Wara zones expanding the known zones of mineralization which occur over an area of approximately 3.5 kilometres by 15 kilometres. In an effort to further expand and define the extent of the ore body an additional 4,000 metre drilling program is underway which should lead to an updated resource estimate in the fall of 2010 with more than 120 drill holes completed. Additional metallurgical work has been a top priority to further refine the optimal approach to the project. The initial testing suggests that an open pit mine with an on site heap leach operation utilizing an acid chloride solution similar to that used on some oxide copper heap leach deposits will be the most effective method of recovering both the silver and indium. Tests confirm that the cyanide leach process used for many silver and gold deposits has similar recovery for precious metals; however that the acid leach is superior for indium and associated base metal recovery. The 2009 PEA forecast mine production at 20,000 tonnes per day producing an average of 6.4 million ounces of silver and 37,000 kilograms of indium each year for the first 10 years of a 36-year mine life. Current studies are looking at the potential for expanded production levels and the possible combination of heap leach and milling of higher grade material. The company expects to produce a silver dore and marketable indium on site along with by-product lead, zinc and copper. Summer 2010 - Digital Edition | Planning for Profits | Report on Mining 5
The exploration work continues as South American Silver moves forward to update the PEA and resource estimates for the project later in 2010. In addition to these programs baseline environmental data is being collected, engineering optimization studies and metallurgical testing are being expanded and refined. Bolivia Number One in GDP Growth The Bolivian government has seen considerable progress in creating a stronger economic base built largely on the development of energy and minerals. One of the initiatives is to encourage the processing of minerals and metals in the country, viewed as metal industrialization, rather than the production of concentrates which are then shipped out for processing. Over the past five years three major mining operations have started production in Bolivia including Pan American Silver, Coeur D’Alene Mines and Sumatomo Mining, moving Bolivia from the ninth largest producer to the fifth largest producer of silver in the world. Bolivia has had the strongest GDP growth in South America over the past few years as the government has concentrated on creating a positive investment climate. There have been a number of other positive economic developments leading to reduced inflation, strong trade surpluses and robust internal growth. In an effort to attract additional investment the government recently sponsored an article in the U.K.-based industry magazine, The Mining Journal, to highlight the positive investment opportunities and economic environment in Bolivia.
The management at South American Silver has a combined 100 years experience in the exploration and development of mining projects in South America focused in Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina. The Company’s management team has a strong technical and financial background. Greg Johnson appointed President and CEO April 2010, has over 20 years experience in the mining industry, including 12 years at NovaGold Resources where he was instrumental in the acquisition and development of three world class deposits, increasing the company’s market capitalization from $50 million to over $2 billion as a result. Ralph Fitch, Executive Chairman and Director, one of the founders of South American Silver, has decades of international mining experience and the discovery of a number of deposits in South America including Malku Khota and Escalones. Felipe Malbran, Executive VP, Exploration South America, has over 25 years experience in the exploration and development of precious and base metal projects in the region and brings a wealth of regional knowledge to the company. Richard Doran, Executive VP, has been with South American Silver since inception, with over 25 years of mining industry experience. William Filtness, CFO, is a chartered accountant and has been involved in the mining industry for 23 years as CFO and as an industry consultant. Dr. David Dreisinger, VP Metallurgy, has been with the company since 2006 and holds the position of Professor and Chairholder of the Industrial Research Chair in Hydrometallurgy at the University of British Columbia.
Photos - Left: Collecting social information from local communities; Bottom left: Seeding trout fish fry into local lake; Below: Water sampling for environmental studies at Malku Khota.
6 Planning for Profits | Report on Mining | Summer 2010 - Digital Edition
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Photos, clockwise: Sampling in a Malku Khota Road Cut; Community workshop; Local festivity in native dress; Drilling at Malku Khota; Near the Escalones copper-gold project.
The Company has been operating in Bolivia for over 14 years and has set a high priority on community relations to facilitate successful project development and operations through local community support and economic benefits. The Company has two full time community relations personnel dedicated to the project and cooperation agreements are in place with the surrounding communities. In addition, South American Silver enlisted the expertise of the group, Business for Social Responsibility, to help identify key stakeholders and develop a framework for their potential involvement in the economic growth created over the anticipated long life of the mine life. Exploration on the Escalones copper-gold project has been focused on a four square kilometre area where high grade surface samples have been recovered. Historic drilling on the site has shown zones of over 1% copper along with significant gold, silver and molybdenum and broad zones of over 0.6% copper in porphyry style mineralization. South American Silver is expecting to have geological modeling completed soon in an effort to identify priority target drilling zones. The company is looking to start a drilling program on the high priority targets in late 2010 with a new resources estimate to follow in 2011. A recently announced $4 million private placement would ensure funding is available to complete the 2010 exploration and development program.
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South American Silver owns two world class assets which offer shareholders an excellent opportunity to participate in the increased value as the projects move from the initial resource definition and expansion phase through to feasibility and eventual production. In addition the large resource base provides exceptional exposure to the rising price of precious, specialty and base metals. The company holds a unique position in the newly emerging specialty metal indium, where they would become a significant producer on a global basis. The Bolivian government has been moving forward on a program to create a stable and attractive environment to help expand their industrial base and create sustainable long-term economic benefits for the country as well as a constructive environment for industry investment. South American Silver will appeal to investors looking for a company with excellent value and uniquely positioned in metals with strong growth in global demand. The Company’s management has the experience and expertise to capture the full potential of these assets enabling the creation of substantial shareholder value over the long term.
South American Silver Corp 230 - 4201 East Yale Ave. Denver, CO 80222 Phone: 1.303.512.3919 E-mail: rdoran@soamsilver.com www.soamsilver.com TSX: SAC Year Hi/Low: $0.81/0.29 Summer 2010 - Digital Edition | Planning for Profits | Report on Mining 7
Cash Position: US$6.0 million (March 31, 2010)
Shares Outstanding: 61.0 million (73.0 million fully diluted)
Resource (based on 25,000m drilling) Indicated: 144.6mm oz Ag & 845,000 kg In Inferred: 177.8mm oz Ag & 968,000 kg In
Malku Khota: Flagship silver-indium-gold property in Bolivia; disseminated silver (Ag) mineralization with indium (In) and gold credits that occurs within a large sandstone ridge which extends for 12km within the South American Silver land position.
Project Summary
US$ 104.7 Million US$ 3.75/oz silver 50.7 % 38.6 g/t 8.1 g/t 1.4 years
US$ 1,233 Million US$ 325 Million
Total Indium Production Annual Production - Tonnes Leached First Ten Yars AverageAnnual Production - Silver First Ten Years Average Annual Production - Indium Mining Cost Processing Cost Mine Life
Total Silver Production
7 million tonnes 6.4 million oz 37,200 kg US$ 1.14/tonne US$ 2.60/tonne 36 years
152.9 million oz 974,300 kg
www.soamsilver.com
Contact: Greg Johnson Phone: (303) 584-0606 E-Mail: gjohnson@soamsilver.com
South American Silver Corp.
Initial CAPEX Cash Cost (net of credits) Pre-Tax IRR First Ten Years Average Silver Grade First Ten Years Average Indium Grade Years to Payback from Start of Production
Pre-Tax Net Cash Flow Pre-Tax NPV (at 10% discount rate)
NI-43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Study - Base Case
Ongoing drill campaign underway with recent higher grade discovery Excellent potential to expand resources and projected production levels Updated Resource Estimate and Economic Assessment in 2010
An Emerging Silver-Indium Giant
Malku Khota - Bolivia
TSX: SAC US OTC: SOHAF
Trading Symbols:
South American Silver Corp.
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Summer 2010 - Digital Edition | Planning for Profits | Report on Mining 9
Mining In South America by Grant Campbell
T
he South American continent has a long history of mineral production which stretches back centuries. The first European explorers were astonished by the amount of gold and silver they found being used by the indigenous people they encountered. South America became the Holy Grail in regards to the exploration of precious and base metals. Over the past few decades the extreme political instability has started to subside and the countries with the most stable governments have seen substantial increases in foreign investment. Exploration expenditures have increased dramatically as companies continue to find an abundance of base and precious metals.
“One of the first major deposits to benefit from this agreement is the Barrick Gold Pascua-Lama project which straddles the border and has estimated reserves of 17.8 million ounces of gold and 671 million ounces of silver, making it one of the world’s largest precious metal mines.”
South America has been a focus region for many international companies due to the history of exploration successes in the region. Approximately 38% of all the global investment in base metal exploration and 27%of the gold budget is allocated to South America. This should not be a big surprise when one considers that on a global basis, Chile is the largest producer of copper and Peru is the second largest producer of silver and the eighth largest producer of gold. Latin America accounts for approximately 18% of the world’s production of lead and zinc, with Peru being the number one producer worldwide. Argentina has been moving up in the rankings since their government clarified and modernized the mining legislation, offering more certainty to companies considering exploring in the region. The region is also a major contributor to the global supply of other base metals including molybdenum, nickel, diamonds and iron ore. Exploration companies have been working in South America in an effort to discover metals that are not traditionally found in the region, such as uranium, bauxite and indium.
The global search for minerals and metals is driven as much by the perception of political risk as by the opportunity of exploration success. The benefits of political stability and legislative certainty can be seen in the countries with the most active mining sectors. The variety of metals found has been increasing as modern exploration methods are more widely used. Mining continues to be one of the major economic forces in the region and the driving force of economic growth. Four countries have tended to dominate the mining and metals sector, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. All of the other nations have a mining industry but to a lesser degree. 10 Planning for Profits | Report on Mining | Summer 2010 - Digital Edition
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Many of the governments of South America have seen the positive developments that have been derived from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In reaction to NAFTA, free trade agreements are being promoted within South America as well. The most important signed so far is the Southern Cone Common Market agreement, known by the commonly used Spanish acronym, MERCOSUR, between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay with Bolivia as an associate member. Another important agreement is the Dcampos de Hielo Treaty between Chile and Argentina which allows cross border exploration and mining. One of the first major deposits to benefit from this agreement is the Barrick Gold PascuaLama project which straddles the border and has estimated reserves of 17.8 million ounces of gold and 671 million ounces of silver, making it one of the world’s largest precious metal mines. Most of the world’s major mining companies have operations in South America including some of the largest, such as the Brazilian-based Vale or more properly Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), Barrick Gold, BHP Billiton, Gold Corp and Rio Tinto to name a few. The attraction for these companies has been the establishment of world class mining operations — some being the largest of their kind in the world. Most of these companies operate subsidiaries based in the country where the mining operation is based. www.ReportOnMining.com
The most widely quoted stock index for the region is the Brazil Bovespa which is based on the San Paulo Stock exchange. The index is a total return index and is made up of the largest most liquid stocks on the exchange. The Brazilian markets are much larger than those found in the other countries in the region; this is no surprise considering that approximately half of the continents population resides in Brazil. All of the other countries have exchanges, most are only of interest to the local investor due to the generally small size of the companies listed. Going forward South America will become more important both economically and politically due in large part to the increased production of industrial and precious metals. The region is already becoming a major supplier to China and as China’s economic growth accelerates so will the economies in South America. The region has proven to contain an abundance of metal and mineral resources offering mining companies an excellent opportunity for exploration success in the future.
Summer 2010 - Digital Edition | Planning for Profits | Report on Mining 11
Salar
L
ithium Americas Corp. (the Company) (TSX: LAC) has one of the largest known lithium brine deposits in the world, with all of the Company’s properties located in Argentina. Company highlights include: • Successful completion of $45 million IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange May 13, 2010. • Strategic Investors – Magna International and Mitsubishi Corporation are equity shareholders in the Company, in addition to both having off-take arrangements with the Company. • Size of Resource – An inferred in situ resource estimate of 4.9 million tonnes of lithium carbonate and 14.7 million tonnes of potash. This makes the resource the sixth largest lithium brine resource in the world, but only one of a few that is expected to be able to be put into commercial production. • Lithium Americas is also the only lithium exploration company in South America to have a resource estimate based on an NI 43-101 compliant technical report. With the demand for lithium carbonate expected to more than triple by the year 2020, and with the majority of this demand growth expected to come from the automotive industry’s electrification of the automobile using lithiumion battery technology, Lithium Americas is in an enviable position having off-take arrangements in place with both Magna International (“Magna”) and Mitsubishi Corporation (“Mitsubishi”).
Magna, the world’s most diversified automotive supplier, has recently established the Magna E-Car Systems operating group to focus on the development and supply of electric vehicle and hybrid-electric vehicle applications. Mitsubishi joined forces with GS Yuasa Corp and Mitsubishi Motors Corp, to create a joint venture called Lithium Energy Japan (“LEJ”). LEJ is supplying the lithium-ion battery in Mitsubishi Motor’s i-MiEV electric vehicle. The off-take arrangements that Lithium Americas has with its strategic investors enables Magna the option to enter into an off-take agreement entitling it to acquire up to 25% of Lithium Americas’ lithium production, while Mitsubishi’s arrangement is for up to 12.5% lithium production.
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Plant
Lithium Americas recently completed a $45 million IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May 13, 2010. The Company previously raised $20 million in 2009 while still a private company via four tranches of private placements. Proceeds from the initial $20 million were used by the Company to complete a NI 43-101 compliant technical report which identified that the Company had an inferred in situ resource estimate of 4.9 million tonnes of lithium carbonate and 14.7 million tonnes of potash. The technical report was based on the results of the Company’s 2009 drilling program. Between January 2010 and June 2010, the Company drilled an additional eight reverse circulation (“RC”) holes and seven diamond drill (“DDH”) holes, essentially now having more than double the amount of holes as it did last year. The new results continue to be encouraging, identifying that the Company has discovered lithium brine outside of the previously defined inferred resource area, and porosity results that continue to validate the favourable porosity of the aquifer. The Company is expecting to update its resource estimate from inferred, to indicated and measured, by the end of the year.
The Company also continues to expand its property package, acquiring an additional 6,477 hectares to increase its land position in the Argentinean Puna Plateau to 125,704 hectares. The Puna Plateau is the most prolific brine reserve region globally, hosting approximately 84% of the world’s lithium brine reserves. Given the extremely dry conditions associated with the Puna Plateau, proven low cost evaporation technology is used in lithium brine processing. As such, the Company is expecting to have a cost structure in-line with the other low cost lithium producers in the region. Lithium Americas expects to be in production by 2014.
Lithium Americas Corp. 602-357 Bay St. Toronto, ON, Canada M5H 2T7 Phone: 1.416.360.1921 Fax: 1.416.363.0585 E-mail: mcosic@lithiumamericas.com www.lithiumamericas.com TSX: LAC Year Hi/Low: $1.87/$1.40
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Summer 2010 - Digital Edition | Planning for Profits | Report on Mining 13
G
uyana Goldfields Inc. (TSX: GUY) (“GUY”) is considered one of the top new emerging gold development companies and, over the past 12 months, has been receiving an increasing amount of recognition in the market. GUY is a Canadian-based company holding development and advanced-stage exploration assets in Guyana, South America and its properties are part of the Guiana Shield, an area known for significant gold production. The Company holds over 426,000 acres of land which has been largely unexplored hosting significant discovery potential. GUY is moving towards development and construction of its 100% owned Aurora Gold Project with a current total and growing resource of 4.6 million ounces of gold. GUY is wellfinanced to advance development and start construction of the project in Q4 2010 with the following milestones and catalysts: • Environmental and Social Impact Assessment – Q2 • Permitting – Q3 • Hydropower Feasibility Study – end of Q3
• Definitive Feasibility Study NI43-101 – Q4 • Start of Aurora development and construction – Q4 The “Golden Square Mile” is where the resource can be found within the Aurora Gold Project with the first gold production targeted for 2012, producing an average of 250,000 oz/year. The current mine plan is a combination of open pit and underground mining for the first nine years with annual output of approximately 8,000 tonnes per day and approximately 4,400 tonnes per day for years 10-17 from underground feed only. Total mine life is 17 years with operating cash costs in the lower quartile of all producing gold mines at U.S. $364/oz. Total planned production is over 4+ million ounces with the resource currently known today. Exploration drilling continues within the “golden square mile” and also outside along trend. A geophysics survey has identified many targets that the Company is pursuing and new gold zones are being discovered.
Analyst Site visit group photo
14 Planning for Profits | Report on Mining | Summer 2010 - Digital Edition
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Photos left to right, clockwise: Analysts in the core shack at the Aurora property; Analyst site visit touring the Aurora property; Cuyuni River in Guyana; Guyana Goldfields staff at the Aurora Gold Project site; Aurora Gold Project site; Aurora Gold Project site.
Guyana Goldfields has also recently made a new gold discovery at its advanced exploration staged Aranka Property, approximately 35km northeast of the Aurora Gold Project. Both properties are connected by an existing road. The Company is pursuing many exciting targets identified through a geophysics survey. Further exploration drilling is ongoing to confirm the existence of what the Company believes could potentially be a new gold district. There is currently no large-scale gold operation in the country and the gold that is produced is through artisanal means. Guyana Goldfields is the next up and coming largescale gold producer in the country and would significantly contribute to Guyana’s GDP. The country’s government is very pro-mining and GUY has the support of all levels of government, and the company continues to work closely with the Guyanese community where it has established excellent relationships over the past 14 years.
Left to right: Guyana Goldfields Country Manager, Violet Smith, Prime Minister and Minister of Mines of Guyana, Honourable Samuel Hinds, and Guyana Goldfields President & COO, Claude Lemasson. www.ReportOnMining.com
The Company is involved with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank group and follows recognized international standards. The IFC has been involved with the project since 2006 and is currently the 4th largest shareholder at 4.5%. The IFC has provided technical assistance with the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and is also interested in assisting with future financings. Guyana Goldfields has strong management with expertise in both exploration and mine development with the necessary skills and knowledge to critically advance the Aurora Gold Project and the Aranka properties. Claude Lemasson, President & COO, joined the company in March 2009 after having been a Goldcorp executive for 10 years. Mr. Lemasson was the General Manager of Projects for Canada and the U.S and also oversaw the construction and operation of Goldcorp’s flagship mine, the Red Lake Mine. His 21 years of mine design, construction, and management experience has shown to be a tremendous asset as the Aurora Gold Project moves through feasibility study stages. Patrick Sheridan, Jr., the Founder and CEO of the Company, boasts a vast amount of exploration experience in Guyana and looks after the strategic exploration at Aranka.
Guyana Goldfields Inc. 141 Adelaide Street West Suite 1205 Toronto, ON, Canada M5H 3L5 Phone: 1.416.628.5936 Email: info@guygold.com www.guygold.com TSX: GUY Year Hi/Low: $8.34/3.16 Summer 2010 - Digital Edition | Planning for Profits | Report on Mining 15
A
ntares Minerals Inc., like its namesake the red supergiant star in the heart of the Scorpio constellation, is generating a brighter profile with each of its advancing announcements on its Haquira copper-molybdenum-gold project in southern Peru. Antares Minerals was formed in 2004 as a Canadian junior mineral exploration company with a focused strategy of “adding value through continued discovery” by quickly proving up Latin American copper and gold prospects with recognizable potential to the pre-feasibility stage of mining,Deep in geological education and exploration experience, the senior management team includes John Black, President/CEO; Dr. Kevin Heather, Vice President Geology; Joe Fernandez, Vice President Project Development; Rich Hasler, Advisor Community Affairs; David Anderson, Chairman/Director; Dr. Paul Zweng, Director; and Mark Wayne, CFO/Director. Headquartered in Waterdown, Ontario, international offices are also located in Denver, Colorado; Salta, Argentina; and Arequipa, Peru.
“The significance of the property continues to build as...a world class copper resource with potential for two stages of development.” The company’s flagship property is the Haquira Copper Project located in the Tintaya belt of southern Peru. Antares optioned the property from Minera Phelps Dodge del Peru S.A.C in 2005 and recently completed the final payment to become 100% owner of the property. The significance of the property continues to build as Antares has defined a world class copper resource with potential for two stages of development. As described by John Black in the press release of February 26, 2010, “We are very pleased by the substantial increase in the size and grade of the Haquira resource. The total amount of in-situ copper at Haquira expanded by 38% from 8.5 billion lbs. to 11.7 billion lbs. and average grades increased for both primary and secondary mineralization. The total resource at Haquira has now surpassed a critical threshold of over 10 billion pounds of contained copper metal, making Haquira one of the largest undeveloped copper projects controlled by a junior exploration company.
“We are particularly pleased that the average grade of the measured and indicated primary mineralization now exceeds 0.6% Cu at a cut-off grade of 0.3% Cu. This higher grade will serve to distinguish Haquira from many other known large copper projects. The presence of near-surface secondary copper mineralization is another feature that distinguishes Haquira from other copper development opportunities. We are now in the process of evaluating the potential for a two-staged copper mining operation whereby the mine commences with a low-capital, low-cost SX-EW copper leaching operation producing LME_grade copper cathode followed by a larger-scale, mill/concentrate operation producing copper and molybdenum concentrates with gold and silver as by-products.” Antares announced a preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”) for the leachable secondary copper zones (SX-EW) at surface at Haquira East and Haquira West in May 2008, and projected a 50,000 t/d SX/EW heap leach operation that will produce an average of 109 million lbs. of copper cathode for 11 years of mine life. The capital cost to construct the operation is estimated at U.S. $301 million with a projected IRR of 26.9% and an NPV of U.S. $224 million utilizing a copper price of U.S. $2/lb. and a discount rate of 8%. The value of this portion of the deposit alone is significantly greater than the current market value of the company today. Work is currently in progress to complete a more comprehensive PEA for the entire Haquira project. This PEA will incorporate both the secondary SX-EW and the more extensive primary sulphide zones that have been established to date at Haquira. This fully integrated study of a proposed SX-EW/mill-concentrator operation will be completed in late June or early July, 2010 and will reveal more fully the potential value of the Haquira project.
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Photos clockwise starting opposite page top left: Camp at Haquira East; Core sample; Ops Team; Haquira East drill rig; John Black, President/CEO en route to the site; Drilling.
Other deposits in the belt that are undergoing prefeasibility and feasibility level evaluations include the Quechua deposit of Pan Pacific Copper, the Los Chancas deposit of Southern Copper, the Constancia deposit of Norsemont Mining, and the Antilla deposit of Panoro
On the adjacent property to the south of Haquira, Antares is exploring the Cristo de los Andes prospect according to an option agreement with Minera del Suroeste S.A.C. (MISOSA), a subsidiary of Hochschild Mining PLC, which permits Antares to acquire up to a 60% interest in the property. An initial five shallow drill holes reported in November, 2009 yielded more than 1% copper over lengths exceeding 25 metres, with associated gold grades up to 0.35 grams/tonne. Results reported in early February 2010 for an additional ten drill holes showed an intersection of 52.45 metres of 2.00% copper and 0.050 grams gold/tonne including 26.75 metres with 3.65% copper and 0.074 grams gold/tonne, and another drill hole with intersections of 31.70 metres with 2.02% copper and 0.190 grams gold/tonne and 28.95 metres of 1.41% copper and 0.104 grams gold/tonne. These results are highly encouraging and offer good potential for the definition of additional resources in the immediate area of influence of the Haquira Project. The Haquira copper project is located in AndahuaylasYauri copper belt in southern Peru. This copper belt is rapidly emerging as the site of some of the more significant recent copper discoveries in the Andean Cordillera. The only significant operating mine in the belt has been the Tintaya Cu-Au-Mo mine of Xstrata Copper but recent discoveries have led to the announcement of development plans for several new mines in the near future. Haquira is well positioned to become one of these new mines. The Haquira project is located contiguous to, and south of the Las Bambas Cu-Mo-Au project where Xstrata Copper has announced plans to invest up to U.S. $4.2 billion to construct a mine that will produce up to 400,000 t/y of copper in concentrate. The Las Bambas operation will be integrated with the development of Xstrata Copper’s Antapaccay Deposit (U.S. $1.5 billion development cost) in the Tintaya District. www.ReportOnMining.com
Minerals. The major development investments projected by Xstrata Copper and perhaps others will substantially improve infrastructure in the belt and undoubtedly benefit Antares and the development of the Haquira deposit.
Antares’ other major project is the Rio Grande copper-gold prospect in Argentina in which the company holds a vested 50% operating interest with Pachamama Resources Ltd., which was spun out from Mansfield Minerals Inc. Rio Grande is a large copper-gold prospect with associated IOCGstyle (Iron Oxide Copper Gold) alteration located in Salta Province, northwestern Argentina. Drilling to date (33,000 m in 78 holes) has outlined a large zone of Cu-Au mineralization that warrants further investigation. The Company and its joint venture partner are in the process of planning further work programs for 2010. This may include a metallurgical test program to determine metallurgical characteristics of the copper-gold mineralization and completion of an initial resource estimate for the project. Antares Minerals has far exceeded its original objectives through a blend of geological and technical expertise, sound management and a thorough, measured approach to the discovery and defining of a world class Cu-Mo-Au resource. The next stage of discovery will be that by investors.
Antares Minerals Inc. Ste. 400, 816 - 7th Ave SW Calgary, AB, Canada T2P 1A1 Phone: 1.403.262.9888 E-mail: gordon@briscocapital.com www.antaresminerals.com TSX.V: ANM Year Hi/Low: $3.12/0.85 Summer 2010 - Digital Edition | Planning for Profits | Report on Mining 17
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