Atico Mining (ATY-V) to exercise El Roble option
Sept 25, 2013 - News Release
Atico Mining Corp. has formally advised Minera El Roble SA (Miner) that it will be exercising the El Roble option agreement. The event triggers a 60 day period as of September 23th, 2013 after which Atico will pay US$14 million in order to acquire 90% of Minera El Roble S.A (MINER) shares and take full control of the producing mine and 6,679 hectares of surrounding claims. "We are extremely pleased that with the exercise of the option agreement Atico will transition from exploring to operating El Roble Mine," commented Fernando Ganoza, CEO. "This is a significant milestone for the company as we progress with our plans at El Roble to quickly bring newly discovered resources into production using the existing operating mine and mill infrastructure, and explore for additional VMS deposits within the larger land package."
El Roble Mine
The El Roble property is the site of an operating underground copper and gold mine with a nominal capacity of 400 tonnes per day. Over the past 22 years the mine has processed 1.5 million tonnes of ore at an average head grade of 2.5% copper and an estimated 2.5 g/t gold. Copper and gold mineralization at El Roble occurs as volcanogenic massive sulfide ("VMS") lenses.
In January 28, 2011 Atico signed an option agreement to acquire 90% of the shares of MINER and has since been aggressively exploring the El Roble mine and surrounding claims. To date, Atico has completed 11,740 meters of diamond drilling on the property and has identified 15 prospective targets for VMS deposits in the 6,679 hectares surrounding the mine.
As a result of this exploration program the Company has discovered high grade copper and gold mineralization below the 2000 level, the lowest production level at the El Roble mine, and has established a 43-101 compliant inferred mineral resource of 1.58 million tonnes at 4.45 % Cu and 3.17 g/t Au using a cut-off grade of 0.72 % Cu Eq. Mineralization is open at depth and along strike and the company will further test the limits of the resource.
On the larger land package the Company has identified a prospective stratigraphic contact between volcanic rocks and black and grey cherts that has been traced by Atico geologists for ten kilometers across the El Roble Project area. This contact has been determined to be an important control on VMS mineralization on which Atico has identified 15 prospective target areas for VMS type mineralization occurrence, which is the focus of the surface drill program at El Roble.
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