The new Mirador North discovery by Corriente (CTQ.TSX) is apparently only 400 meters from the border of Aurelian property in Ecuador-
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Here is an article about Corriente and their feasibility study for Mirador- (Mirador North info at the bottom of the article)
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Minews Story
Date : August 3, 2004
Bankable Feasibility Study For Corriente’s Mirador Copper Project Should Make Interesting Reading.
Brokers do not always get things right, otherwise they would not have to keep slaving away in front of several screens and a couple of telephones. But when two Canadian brokers of repute both come out with recommendations of a junior mining company called Corriente Resources it is time to take notice. In June Sprott Securities raised its target price for the company and made it Top Pick in the sector, and the same month CIBC World Markets initiated coverage with a Sector Outperform rating. Why the attention? Well, Corriente will shortly be announcing the result of a bankable feasibility study on the Mirador copper deposit in Ecuador and Sumitomo Metal Mining of Japan has given the company a letter of intent that it wishes to process the concentrate. Before doing so Sumitomo completed an independent metallurgical study on the deposit which that simple and low cost flotation processing is expected to recover 92 per cent of the copper in the ore.
Corriente has a 100 per cent interest in over 50,000 hectares on the Corriente copper belt in south east Ecuador and investors who read the note recently published by Numis Securities will know that copper is likely to remain flavour of the month for some time to come. This belt contains three deposits - Mirador, San Carlos and Panantza- with geological resources amounting to 560 million tonnes at a grade of 0.81% copper plus gold and molybdenum credits. It also hosts six additional copper and copper-gold exploration targets and there is said to be plenty of potential for further discoveries.
A scoping study was completed on a portion of the Mirador deposit some time ago and it indicated a net present value of US$222 million and an internal rate of return before tax of 39 per cent at a copper price of US$0.90/lb and gold at US$325/oz. As copper is now around US$130/lb and gold is pushing towards US$400/oz once again there seems little doubt that the bankable feasibility study will be positive. The Corriente management is wisely focussing on bringing Mirador, which is its first major deposit, into production as soon as possible so that the cash flow will fund the expansion of its exploration work and add new mines to the belt over the coming years.
Back in 2001, when the commodity cycle was at a very different level Corriente signed a global exploration alliance with BHP Billiton. At the time Mirador, San Carlos and Panatza were all at the resource estimate stage and Corriente’s trump card in the deal proved to be the small resource option. This allowed Corriente to earn up to a 100 per cent interest in discoveries which proved to be less than 200 million tonnes of 1% copper equivalent ( for a milling deposit) or 100 million tonnes of 1% copper equivalent (for a heap leach deposit) as these would be too small for the major. In the event all three deposits came into this category, but they are still big enough to make a major impact on Corriente. As President Ken Shannon pointed out at the time, this option provided flexibility and access to capital as any smaller projects that were surplus to requirements could be sold, or possibly joint ventured.
A couple of month ago the company gave an update on the feasibility study at Mirador and everything was clearly on track. A programme of 27 in-fill holes had been completed which would enable a resource model to be established and an open pit plan agreed. The concentrate will be transported to the port town of Machala where it will be loaded onto ships from 27,000 to 33,000 dwt. The existing infrastructure of the harbour will only need to be enhanced with a bulk storage shed, loading conveyor and mooring dolphins. The concentrate, which is expected to average 30 % copper at a recovery of 90%, will be produced from a mill flow sheet which includes a simple two stage grinding circuit followed by standard copper flotation. Marketing is now in process to smelting and refining companies so it appears that Sumitomo did not conclude an exclusive deal. However there was a holiday in Canada so nobody could confirm this.
The other bit of good news from the company is that drilling at Mirador Norte, just 3 kms north of the Mirador deposit, intersected high grade copper including an intersection of 24 metres at 1.56% copper. The aim is to identify higher grade, near surface zones which will enhance the economics of Mirador. Things look promising and the drill will be returning to Mirador Norte at any moment. All in all, the bankable feasibility study should make interesting reading, especially for clients of Sprott Securities and CIBC World Markets. |
