Oz junior signs farm-in with Codelco By: Esmarie Swanepoel13th...

Oz junior signs farm-in with Codelco

By: Esmarie Swanepoel
13th August 2012

PERTH (miningweekly.com) - A subsidiary of ASX-listed Chinalco Yunnan Copper Resources has signed a farm-in agreement with the world’s largest copper producer Codelco to explore the Sulfatos property in northern Chile.

Under the farm-in agreement, Chinalco Yunnan Copper would spend up to $20-million over the next six years on the project area, drilling a minimum of 5 000 m. Once a bankable feasibility study has been completed on the project, Chinalco Yunnan Copper had the right to trigger the incorporation of a joint venture (JV) company, in which it would hold a 51% interest.

Codelco’s subsidiary Compania Contractual Minera Los Andes would not contribute to the funding until the JV vehicle was incorporated.

“This completes our fifth property acquisition in the porphyry copper belt of northern Chile. It is very pleasing for Chinalco Yunnan Copper to be in partnership with a subsidiary of the largest global copper producer in the most competitive copper belt, hosting more than five-billion tons of copper deposits such as Collahuasi and Quebrada Blanca,” said Chinalco Yunnan Copper MD Jason Beckton.

“As per our Chilean JV with Rio Tinto, the Sulfatos property is easily serviced from our exisin base in Iquique,” he added.

Beckton said that with the farm-in agreement, Chinalco Yunnan Copper’s shareholders had the benefit of exposure to an advanced target with significant previous drilling.

“No modern geophysical work has been completed and this is a logical next step forward. We are endeavouring to detect a significant ore body at Sulfatos and plan to set the rigs on this project after completing drilling programmes at our Caramasa and Palmani projects in the coming months.”

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/oz-junior-signs-farm-in-with-codelco-2012-08-13