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Gold/Mining/Energy : Corriente Resources V.CTQ Junior Exploration Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: WillC who wrote (1377)	5/3/2000 12:32:00 PM
From: WillC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1416

Here's the first analyst's assessment --40 million tonnes of 1.25% for starters. Loewen, Ondaatje, McCutheon Ltd. May 3,2000 Corriente Resources Inc. Speculative Buy David Lowell Could Do it Again. The current excitement in Corriente lies in the Rio Zamora area in southern Ecuador, where Corriente is earning-in a 70% stake from Billiton. The exploration effort is being managed by David Lowell, the principal behind Arequipa (Pierina) and "the discoverer" of the Escondida copper mine in Chile. David Lowell is earning-in 10% of CTQ's interest in the project. Once again, he has decided the day has come--this time for Ecuador--and he has managed to convince Billiton that no one can do the exploration better than Corriente and Lowell. Work by Billiton has identified at least 6 large porphyry systems on the 80x 20-50 km property with drill holes in three of these systems. With Billiton exiting the exploration business, they wanted to place the project in capable exploration hands. They feel comfortable with Corriente/Lowell to further explore the area and have retained a 70% back-in right. CTQ's first target is the supergene blanket over the porphyries, whereas Billiton focused on the deeper mineralization. Trenching, bulk sampling and scout drilling started on the Warintza prospect where one meter deep pits showed an average grade of 1.5% copper. The first 16 holes confirm this grade for the supergene blanket. Drilling started on the southeast side of the Warinza anomaly. Extrapolating the results we can see approximately 40MT of around 1.25% copper in a 40 m. thick blanket?not bad for a first pass. Although some of the holes showed 1% copper equivalent grade in the underlying primary ore, a target of 1 billion tonnes still lies somewhere in the future. The plan is to scout-drill the best five anomalies and then home-in on the best one. Next on the list is Chancho, about 80 km south of Warintza. Billiton got the best early exploration results at Chancho anomoly and only parted with it in their second deal with Corriente. With the Rio Zamoro project so exciting, Corriente has curtailed spending on other properties. It has returned the Famatina project in Argentina. Famatina had large property payments and the first drill results on Mexicana Ridge lacked continuity. Deeper drilling or gold at the Tasna bismuth mine in Bolivia failed to come up with higher grades and CTQ is in discussions with potential partners. After two drill programs at Taca Taca, in Argentina during 1999, RTZ returned the property to CTQ, which is now looking for a new partner. One of the last exploration companies with cash, Corriente has been reducing its yearly exploration expenditure from $ 7.5 MM in 1998 to $4 MM in 1999. CTQ still has C$7Mm in cash. Corriente has to issue up to 2.35 million units to Billiton before 2003. The units consist of one common share and a full-warrant. Conclusion. One always asks why some people are more successful than others. In the case of David Lowell, we note two things (next to his unlimited enthusiasm): 1) he knows what he is looking for and 2) contrary to most senior geologists, he spends a lot of time on the project. Our suspicion of a major discovery is justified by David's smile whilst photographed on site for Corriente's annual report. Operating in Ecuador has been difficult, but we believe the country, which recently saw a military coup, has reached a level where there is only one way left--up! As such, we believe timing is excellent for a major discovery. The Corriente Copper Belt is at the , until recently, disputed border area with Peru. If it is not Billiton, another producer will show that Peru's excellent geology does not stop at the border. We reiterate our SPECULATIVE BUY recommendation. Robert P.van Doorn, MBA (604) 925-8063 or 1 800 565 1716