Hi @allens, thanks for your posting - it is intriguing that you have such intimate knowledge of the mining landscape in South America.
I get my info from google etc, so it is not as sound as yours. What I have been doing is looking into the structure of South 32's business to try to see how Riquesa (and possibly Cerro Rayas) would fit in. Any comment you might make would be appreciated.
What I find jumps out of the paper at me is that they are short of copper, but also that they are a specialist in silver, lead, zinc and strong too in coal and aluminium
The chart is on their web site, I won't go into detail - it is there for alpacas to munch on out in the paddock.
Clearly they picked up that structure from the spin off from BHP, which also included Cannington in N. Qld. which is the world's largest producer of silver and also of lead.
They have more recently acquired Hermosa in Arizona, a zinc, silver, manganese resource also prospective for copper.
So I conclude that what attracted them to Riquesa was the zinc - but that the whiff of copper at the new Yanacolipa target probably has them hoping they can add copper as well as more zinc to their portfolio. And at such a good price - I mean $10 mill is not much to pay for 60% of such a promising prospect on a location equivalent to park Avenue in Monopoly.
We just have to make sure that they then take the project to production - if it is copper, there's not much doubt - but if it is pure zinc it may have to compete with Hermosa for development funds. There is an interesting comment on their website saying that the underground development at Hermosa is a means of leveraging their u/g mining expertise developed at Cannington. With the targets we will soon be drilling at Riqueza all blind and deep (except for the monster at Yanacolipa, which outcrops, but still runs deep to over 1 km), that mining expertise will be significant.
As for Cerro Rayas, where Dr J tells us there are at least four majors knocking, the best news items so far, for me, are the comments/rumours that the shortfall shares were fully taken up and that a further placement was needed to satisfy demand. That means the war chest will be sufficient, and we will not need to rush a JV at Cerro Rayas till we have flown the geo tech exploration ourselves, then maybe even a drill or two before doing a great deal on that prospect too.
Having potentially two prospects farmed out to majors anxious for a piece of this huge mineral endowment in Peru will make them both a bit nervous of a T/O of the junior holder - and that is where Dr Jonathan's share holder group is so important. With more than 50% and almost certainly a good portion of the RFC dump to add to that, we are strong. Good for us to have an influence on the big deals ahead.
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