El Cobre
Copper/Gold
El Cobre, Copper/Gold
Located in the south-eastern part of the country, it has a large existing resource of approximately 10.3Mt with high copper grades averaging 1.8% including gold mineralisation with grades as high as 4g/t. A Certificate of Dominion over the El Cobre Project and associated areas was granted on the 24th of February 2020 allowing the holder full access rights to minerals, water and mining and redefining the asset parameters via new drill program.
Historically over 3 Million tonnes (Mt) of ore with copper grades between 1.8% to 20%1 (>1Mt @>14% Cu, >2Mt @>3% Cu) was extracted until 1998, plus gold and relatively lower grades of Ni and Co.
A large existing resource project of ~10.3Mt (non-JORC) has been drilled and identified in a study by Empresa GeoMinera de Oriente with high copper grades averaging 1.8% as well as gold highlights of up to 4 g/t4. The data was verified by several Cuban government experts.
Work done in 1998 by Empresa GeoMinera de Oriente also estimated that there was 1.7 Mt of tailings averaging 0.6% Cu containing over 9,000t of Cu which could be recovered using standard processing technology, presenting an opportunity for early cash flow at El Cobre. The sum of the current pre-exploration initial resource estimates across these studies is 12Mt.
Development Plan: spend up to $2.5m of this capital raise to redefine the orebody through an initial drill program. This is a well-defined mining operation that requires reinterpretation of the significant data from which to work.
| El Cobre Project - Snaphsot | |
|---|---|
| Status | Development/Exploration Target |
| Location | 20 kms by a sealed tar road, NW of Santiago de Cuba |
| Commodity | Copper/Gold |
| Deposit Type | Mesothermal Epithermal, Felsic VMS |
| Mining Method | Opencut/Underground |
| Ore Resource* ** *** | 12.0Mt |
| Approximate Depth | Surface - 200 metres |
| Ownership**** | CMC 49% , Cuban Government 51% with a higher ~75% economic interest to CMC (Operating income NPV analysis) |
| Copper Grade (%) | ~1.8% |
| Gold Grade (g/t) | .75 |
| Initial Mine Life (Years) | 10 |
| Mine Opened | 1530 |
| Product | A concentrate is likely to be sold ‘at gate’ |
| El Cobre Copper Resource by Deposit ***** | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ore (Mt) | Grade Copper (%) | Contained Copper (t) | |
| Parte Oest | 1,547,300 | 2.17 | 33,576.4 |
| Gitanilla | 2,134,700 | 2.02 | 43,120.9 |
| Grande-Blanca | 3,940,200 | 1.66 | 65,407.4 |
| La Esperanza | 2,500,000 | 1.55 | 38,750.0 |
| Total El Cobre | 11,838,596 | 1.60 | 189,951,7 |
* Not JORC compliant.
** Empresa GeomineraOriente, Resumen TecnicoDel Yacimiento El Cobre, March 2003, slide30
*** Nelson et al, The metallogenic evolution of the Greater Antilles, 2011, page 235
**** Economic interest to CMC is higher than equity stake % with consideration to management fees. In addition, all invested capital is to be repaid to CMC prior to any dividend payments to the Cuban government. Significant tax concessions will also apply to the JV
***** APC Projects Summary Presentation February 2018
****** Detailed prospecting of tailings of El Cobreby EmpresaGeoMinerade Oriente, 7 Jul 1998
