INTERNATIONAL TOURNIGAN CORPORATION - Berenguela Project [889]
Canadian Market News from Market News Publishing, Tuesday, December 02,
1997 at 17:37
A.E. (Ted) Daem, President & CEO of International Tournigan
Corporation announces that the Company is proceeding with completing its
due diligence on the Berenguela Project in Southern Peru. This
announcement outlines the nature of the project and the Company's
involvement.
The Berenguela mineral deposit is located near Juliaca on the
Altipiano of southern Peru. The property became available in 1995 through
the privatization program of Mineru Peru, the Peruvian state owned mining
Company. The privatization contract is held by a Peruvian Corporation,
Sociedad Minera Berenguela, S.A., ("SOMIBESA") which is owned 75% by the
principals of Kappes, Cassiday & Associates ("KCA") and 25% by a Peruvian
National.
The privatization contract includes the orebody and sufficient
adjacent surface rights to construct process facilities. Minoro Peru does
not retain any residual royalty or ownership rights except that the
property will revert to Minoro Peru if not developed in a timely fashion or
once it is abandoned.
SOMIBESA has expended approximately US$1,500,000 to purchase the
Berenguela project and fund the work commitment requirement of Minero Peru.
Of the US$1,500,000 the Company has advanced US$750,000 as a loan.
KCA of Reno Nevada have been, for over twenty years, a specialist in
laboratory testing, engineering, equipment manufacture, and project start
up/management for gold and silver leaching from ores. KCA has 45 employees
including 18 metallurgists and engineers dedicated to testing, design,
procurement and construction management of metallurgical plants.
KCA has been directing the technical development of the Berenguela
project undertaken by SOMIBESA over the last two years.
The project is located adjacent to a major highway of commerce running
between Peru and Bolivia. Juliaca, a town of 100,000 residents, is located
50 km from Berenguela by paved highway. A river with sufficient water for
operations and a railroad parallel to the highway run within 5 km of the
deposit. Other mining activities exist in the area. The area is not
environmentally sensitive.
According to a technical summary prepared for SOMIBESA by Francis
O'Kelly, a chartered engineer of MCS Mineral Consulting Services Ltd., the
Berenguela deposit contains a drill proven reserve of nearly 14 million
tonnes assaying 131-220 grams silver per ton, 1.3% copper and 18%
manganese.
The deposit is a tabular body approximately 500 metres wide, 1.5
kilometres long and 60 metres thick. There is no overburden and stripping
ratio for mining is minimal. The orebody was mined from 1905 to 1965.
Underground workings total 17 km. Two mining companies, Asarco and
Chartered Consolidated, drilled the property in the 1960's and completed
feasibility studies. Because of political and technical considerations the
project was not developed at that time. The property was nationalized in
the late 1960's and was unavailable until the Peruvian government initiated
its privatization program.
According to the MSC Mineral Consulting Services technical summary,
the Berenguela ore reserves may be considered in the "proven" category as a
result of over 50 years of active mining, followed by extensive exploration
drilling by Asarco and Charter including 124 diamond drill holes totalling
6,628 metres.
KCA's work has been directed towards developing a wet chemical leach
process as the silver and copper are chemically bound with the manganese.
The concept of the basic flowsheet design for the extraction of the
minerals has been developed by KCA in its labs in Reno, Nevada. The design
includes manganese recovery as an inherent step in the process. Once
manganese recovery is included, revenues increase to the point where
manganese becomes the most important economic constituent.
KCA's work includes a number of projects in Peru. In addition to the
Peru projects, KCA designed and built the 600 ton a day Itos Bolivia hot
agitated heap leach plant for silver. KCA currently has the contract for
operations management of this project. The Itos project is located in
Bolivia.
KCA has advised the Company that the estimated cost to bring the
project to the stage where a bankable feasibility study for a 700,000 tonne
per year operation with a twenty year mine life is $3,000,000. The capital
cost to put the project into production is estimated to be US$100,000,000.
It is the intention of SOMIBESA, KCA and the Company to enter into an
agreement whereby the Company will acquire a 100% interest in the
Berenguela Project. In consideration for the property, the Company has
agreed to fund the project to the completion of feasibility and issue the
principals of SOMIBESA a significant equity position in the Company. The
number of shares to be issued will be based, to a great extent, on the
project's value. In addition it is the parties intention that KCA will be
retained, at industry standard rates, to carry out the necessary
engineering and development work in the metallurgical field to bring the
project to feasibility.
The acquisition agreement will be subject to Exchange and shareholder
acceptance.
Ghana
The Government of Ghana has recently granted the Company a permit to
carry out exploration in lands encompassing a forest reserve. It is a
condition of the grant that the Company file a detailed exploration program
together with a reclamation plan in order to access the reserve lands to
carry out exploration.
The Company has spent the last six weeks on its Riyadh Concession
carrying out trenching. Once the results of the trenching have been
analyzed the Company plans to commence a drilling program. It is expected
that drilling will commence in January of 1998.
TEL: (604) 681-7281 A.E. (Ted) Daem, President & CEO
FAX: (604) 681-8313 |
