Antares Minerals Inc. ("Antares") (TSX VENTURE:ANM) is pleased to announce that
it has received a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for its wholly
owned Haquira Copper Project in southern Peru. At an estimated average annual
production rate of 425 million lbs of copper, 5 million lbs of molybdenum and
27,000 ounces of gold for a twenty-year mine life, the PEA estimates an
after-tax Net Present Value (NPV) of US$1.07 billion from commencement of
construction and an after-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 16.4% using a
long term copper price of US$2.25/lb and a discount rate of 8%. Key highlights
from the study are as follows:
-- After-tax NPV of US$ 1.07 billion for base case with US$2.25/lb Cu and
8% discount rate
-- After-tax IRR of 16.4% for base case with US$2.25/lb Cu - payback of
capital in 4.8 yrs
-- Pre-tax NPV (8%) = US$ 2.08 billion and pre-tax IRR = 22.7% for base
case of US$ 2.25/lb Cu
-- Process rate of 130,000 t/day (30,000 t/day SX-EW leach and 100,000
t/day mill/flotation)
-- Twenty year mine life with open pit to 700 m depth and concurrent,
higher grade, underground production from beneath the pit commencing in
year five
-- Strip ratio of 2.06 to 1 for open pit to a depth of 700 m
-- Initial capital expenditure of US$ 2.06 billion (including working
capital and a contingency of 20%)
-- Total capital expenditure of US$ 2.82 billion (with sustaining capital
and contingency of 20%)
-- Average production of 425 million lbs Cu/yr (193,000 t Cu/yr) for life
of mine
-- Average production of 509 million lbs Cu/yr (230,000 t Cu/yr) for
initial 10 years of full production
-- Total production of 8.3 billion lbs Cu, 97 million lbs Mo, 522,000 oz
Au, and 24.3 million oz Ag
-- Cash cost of US$ 0.89 for first ten years and US$ 1.04 for life of mine
(C1, includes transport and TCRC charges and is net of by-product
credits)
-- Strongly leveraged to price of Cu (based on price range of $2.00-
3.00/lb)
-- After-tax IRR ranges from 12.4% to 26.3%
-- After-tax NPV(8%) ranges from $516 million to $2,730 million
-- The PEA is a stand-alone evaluation without dependency on nearby Xstrata
- Las Bambas project
-- Robust economic indicators justify immediate commencement of Pre-
Feasibility Study (PFS)
John Black, President and CEO of Antares Minerals Inc. commented as follows:
"We are very pleased that the Preliminary Economic Assessment has confirmed our
view that the Haquira Copper project is an economically robust stand-alone
project capable of producing significant value for shareholders and all other
stakeholders in the project. The PEA estimates that Haquira will be capable of
producing 230,000 t of low-cost copper per year for the initial ten years of a
twenty year mine life. We believe that this identifies Haquira as one of the
best, large-scale, undeveloped copper deposits available in the world today and
we have already commenced the definition and execution of a Pre-Feasibility
Study (PFS) to further de-risk and define the opportunity at Haquira. We will
also be conducting a wide variety of trade-off studies over the next several
months that could further enhance the already robust economics of the project.
We currently have six drill rigs on site and will maintain this number of rigs
through to the end of the year to complete infill drilling, geotechnical
drilling, hydrological studies, and to test several promising exploration
targets in the immediate vicinity of currently defined mineralization."
Antares will hold an investor conference call on Friday July 23, at 1:00 PM
(EST) to discuss the results of the PEA and respond to questions from interested
parties. To access the call, please dial:
Canada and USA Toll-free: 1-866-838-1265
Outside Canada and USA: +1-416-915-8110
Passcode: 64187
An instant replay of the conference call will be available until August 22, 2010
at the numbers below:
Canada and USA Toll-free: 1-866-245-6755
Outside Canada and USA: +1-416-915-1035
Preliminary Economic Assessment - Mining and Processing
The Haquira PEA is based on a conventional truck and shovel, open-pit mine
design with SX-EW heap-leaching of near-surface secondary copper material and
milling, flotation, and sulphide concentration of underlying primary suphide
mineralization. The two mineralization types will be processed simultaneously
for a total mine life of 20 years with the SX-EW production ramping up only
slightly ahead of the concentrator. Total production is projected to be 130,000
t/day; with 30,000 t/day for SX-EW processing and the remainder sent to the
concentration plant. The life of mine pit was designed utilizing a base case
copper price of US$2.25/lb. A smaller initial or "starter" pit was also
simulated using a copper price of US$1.75/lb. Both pits had similar strip ratios
but the $US1.75 pit delineates mineralized material with a significantly higher
grade which has allowed for preliminary grade scheduling with higher head grades
for the initial 10.5 years of the mine life.
Production will come from both the Haquira West pit and the significantly larger
Haquira East pit. The Haquira East mineralized zone has a vertical extent that
exceeds 1,000 m. Although mine simulation software supports the case for a 1,000
m deep pit, it is not felt that the geotechnical database is currently
sufficient to support the development of a pit this deep and a decision was made
to limit the bottom of the Haquira East open pit to the 3500 m elevation
(approximately 700 m below the average surface elevation of the Haquira East
mineralized zone). The PEA contemplates the development of an underground mining
operation to exploit the higher grade portion of the Haquira East mineralized
zone that occurs below the 3500 m elevation. Underground production would
commence in year five of the overall mining operation at a rate of 10,000 t/day
which would be extracted by means of long-hole stoping with paste fill to allow
simultaneous operation of the underground and open pit operations. The 10,000
t/day of production would displace a similar tonnage of sulphide material from
the open pit to maintain a constant 100,000 t/day feed rate to the concentration
plant. The net result will be an increase in head grade due to the higher grades
from the underground production. Key parameters and assumptions used for the PEA
study are discussed below and summarized in a series of tables on the following
pages.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type of mining Total yrs Avg t/yr (000's) Avg t/day Total t (000's)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Stripped
Waste
(capitalized: Yr
-1.5-0) 1.5 86,500 237,000 129,750
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SX-EW Open Pit
(Yr 0-20) 19.2 10,900 30,000 208,934
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flotation Open
Pit (Yr 0.5-20) 19.5 32,500-36,500 90-100,000 659,783
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flotation
Underground (Yr
5-15.5) 11.5 3,650 10,000 41,850
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Waste (Yr 0-20) 20.7 86,500 237,000 1,661,699
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total material mined 2,702,016
--------------------------------------------------
Life of Mine Open Pit Strip Ratio 2.06
--------------------------------------------------
Table 1. Mining rates and volumes of mined material - Haquira Project PEA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metal Total Production Average Annual Production
Life of mine
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
lbs (000's) t (000's) lbs (000's) tonnes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu in cathode 1,516,163 688 79,000 36,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu in concentrate 6,755,794 3,064 346,000 157,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu total 8,271,958 3,752 425,000 193,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mo in concentrate 97,337 44 4,992 2,264
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Au in concentrate 522,000 oz 27,000 oz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ag in concentrate 24,334,000 oz 1,242,000 oz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metal Average Annual Production
First ten full years
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
lbs (000's) tonnes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu in cathode 79,000 36,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu in concentrate 430,000 195,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu total 509,000 231,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mo in concentrate 6,783 3,077
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Au in concentrate 35,000 oz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ag in concentrate 1,480,000 oz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2. Projected metal production - Haquira Project PEA
--------------------------------------------------------------
Metal recoveries Metal Prices - Base Case
--------------------------------------------------------------
Cu - SX-EW 78% US$
--------------------------------------------------------------
Cu - Flotation 89.3% Cu $2.25/lb
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mo - Flotation 57% Mo $13.00/lb
--------------------------------------------------------------
Au - Flotation 72% Au $907.54/oz
--------------------------------------------------------------
Ag - Flotation 72% Ag $14.85/oz
--------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Grade 28% Cu Mine Life 20 yrs
--------------------------------------------------------------
Acid cost (delivered) US$120/t Construction 2.5 yrs
--------------------------------------------------------------
Acid Consumption 8.5kg/t ore Electrical Power $0.074/kWh
--------------------------------------------------------------
Table 3. Metal recovery factors, metal prices and other data used in Haquira
Project PEA.
Preliminary Economic Assessment - Project Economics
The results of a discounted cash flow analysis for the Haquira Project are
presented in Table 4 below. Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return
(IRR) values are presented for both After-tax and Pre-tax scenarios. The base
case scenario utilizes a long term consensus copper price of US$2.25/lb and a
discount rate of 8%. IRR and NPV values are calculated for a range of copper
prices with from US$1.75 to US$3.00. The copper price of US$2.95/lb represents
the current three year trailing average LME price for reference purposes. Table
5 summarizes key financial results for the project.
A Peruvian NSR royalty of 1-3 percent, a corporate tax rate of 30 percent, and
an employee profit sharing of 8 percent have been used in the cash flow
analysis. Sunk costs to date are not included, but mine-life working capital
allowance has been included.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copper Price US$/lb Cu
-----------------------------------------------------
3 yr
Post-Tax historical
Cash Flow Base trailing
(US$ millions) Case avg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1.75 $2.00 $2.25 $2.50 $2.75 $2.95 $3.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 0% $1,424 $2,667 $3,911 $5,154 $6,398 $7,393 $7,641
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 5% $337 $1,069 $1,800 $2,531 $3,263 $3,848 $3,994
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 8% ($38) $516 $1,069 $1,623 $2,177 $2,620 $2,730
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 10% ($219) $248 $714 $1,180 $1,647 $2,020 $2,113
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 12% ($361) $37 $434 $831 $1,228 $1,545 $1,625
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRR% 7.6% 12.4% 16.4% 20.0% 23.2% 25.7% 26.3%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payback (yrs) 7.4 yrs 5.7 yrs 4.8 yrs 4.2 yrs 3.8 yrs 3.6 yrs 3.5 yrs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copper Price US$/lb Cu
-----------------------------------------------------
3 yr
Pre-Tax historical
Cash Flow Base trailing
(US$ millions) Case avg(i)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1.75 $2.00 $2.25 $2.50 $2.75 $2.95 $3.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 0% $2,217 $4,148 $6,079 $8,010 $9,941 $11,486 $11,872
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 5% $846 $1,981 $3,117 $4,253 $5,389 $6,297 $6,524
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 8% $359 $1,218 $2,078 $2,938 $3,797 $4,485 $4,657
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 10% $119 $844 $1,568 $2,292 $3,016 $3,596 $3,741
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV 12% (70.3) $546 $1,163 $1,779 $2,396 $2,889 $3,012
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRR% 11.2% 17.5% 22.7% 27.4% 31.6% 34.9% 35.6%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base Case = Industry analysts long term consensus price of US$2.25/lb Cu
(i) Three year historical trailing average for LME price of copper
= US$2.95/lb Cu
Table 4. After-tax and Pre-tax discounted cash flow results for varying copper
prices
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key financial parameters Annual
Total Annual Years 2-11
Life of Mine Life of Mine US$
US$ millions US$ millions millions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Royalty (1-3%) $ 517 $ 25.8 $ 32.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net Operating Revenue (EBITDA) $ 8,828 $ 441 $ 618
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net Pre-Tax Income $ 6,092 $ 305 $ 449
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employee Profit Sharing (8%) $ 487 $ 24.4 $ 35.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corporate Tax (30%) $ 1,681 $ 84.0 $ 124
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net Income $ 3,923 $ 196 $ 289
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash Costs (US$/lb Cu produced) Life of Mine Years 2-11
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mine site - net of by-product credits 0.79 0.63
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
C-1 (delivered metal - net of by-product credits) 1.04 0.89
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 5. Summary of key financial parameters for the Haquira project PEA
Capital Costs
The PEA estimates Initial Capital Costs of US$ 1.86 billion during the 2.5 year
construction period and the first year of partial production. The estimate
assumes that the project will fund the full cost of all required infrastructure
including a concentrate pipeline to the nearest rail head (200 km to Antapaccay
mining complex and a new projected railhead), a power transmission line, and
other facilities. The project will simultaneously construct an SX-EW plant and
sulfide concentrator with the SX-EW production ramping up only slightly ahead of
the concentrator. With sustaining capital over the mine life and the
construction of an underground mine commencing in year 4 of the project the
total capital invested over the life of the project is $2.82 billion. Due to the
preliminary nature of this study, a 20% contingency is included in all capital
estimates. All estimates are based on consultant experience with similar
projects and are not definitive estimates based on vendor quotes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capital Expenditures US$ millions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial Capital - Open Pit (Yr -2 through Yr 1) 1,857.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Working Capital (25% of Yr 1 OPEX) 75.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial Capital - Underground (Yr 3-5) 124.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Initial and Working Capital 2,057.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sustaining Capital 766.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Capital 2,824.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Capital (less working capital) 2,748.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CAPITAL COST SUMMARY ($000s) Highlighted
Subtotal Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Access and Site Prep $8,607
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surface Plant and Facilities $52,013
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Site Infrastructure $24,910
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Includes:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Power Transmission Line $24,260
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Surface Mobile Equipment $26,447
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open Pit Mine Development $201,033
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Includes:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Strip (capitalized) $182,545
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open Pit Mine Equipment $581,402
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processing Facilities and Tailings Disposal $1,153,088
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Includes:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flotation Plant $420,146
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SX-EW Plant and Pads $112,400
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Slurry Line (200 km) $200,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tailings Impoundment $419,042
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slurry De-water/Loading $1,500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Underground Construction $94,410
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Underground Mining Equipment $53,977
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Working Capital at 25% Yr 1 Op Cost $75,308
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G&A, OH, Contingency $552,935
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total - Life of Mine $2,824,130
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total (less working capital) $2,748,822
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tables 6 and 7. Capital Expenditure Cost Estimates for Haquira Project PEA
Operating Costs
The project produces approximately 8.3 billion pounds of copper at an average C1
cash operating cost of $0.89/lb Cu for the first ten full years of production
and $1.04/lb Cu for the life of the mine; net of byproducts and including
transport and refining charges. Cash operating costs are based on prevailing
wage rates, commodity prices, and power rates in Peru. Maintenance parts and
repairs are estimated based on industry standard factors for these costs.
Details of the operating and TCRC costs are presented in Tables 8 and 9 below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPERATING COSTS unit US$
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mining - Surface $/tonne processed $3.79
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mining - Underground $/tonne processed $20.60
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processing (avg all mineralization types) $/tonne processed $3.90
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SX-EW $/tonne processed $3.19
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flotation $/tonne processed $4.11
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental, Closure & Bond $/tonne processed $0.10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tails Handling $/tonne processed $0.05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dewatering - pit and subsurface $/tonne processed $0.05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G&A $/tonne processed $0.03
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FREIGHT COSTS unit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cathode Truck Freight $/tonne Cu shipped $20.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Truck Freight (Mo Con) $/tonne con shipped $200.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Slurry and Rail Transport Cost $/tonne con shipped $37.54
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Ocean Freight / Port Handling $/tonne con shipped $58.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 8. Operating and Freight Costs - Haquira PEA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TCRC Costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Deduction(Cu) % of conc tonnes 1.0%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Deduction (Au) Oz/conc tonne 0.04
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Deduction (Ag) Oz/conc tonne 1.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Treatment Charge $/t conc $55.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Refining Charge - Cu $/lb contained $0.06
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Refining Charge - Mo $/lb contained $1.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Refining Charge - Au $/oz contained $5.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Refining Charge - Ag $/oz contained $0.40
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment Rates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu in cathode 99.5%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu in concentrate 96.5%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mo in concentrate 99.0%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Au in concentrate 92.5%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ag in concentrate 95.0%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 9. Treatment Charges and Refining Charges (TCRC) - Haquira PEA
Mineral Resource Estimate
Antares has recently announced an updated resource estimate for the Haquira
project (see press release of February 26th, 2010). The estimate encompasses all
the known mineralization at the Haquira East and Haquira West deposits as well
as the immediately surrounding areas (Potato Patch zone), but does not reflect
the mineralization recently discovered at the nearby Cristo de los Andes
prospect. It includes both the near-surface secondary (leachable) copper
mineralization as well as the underlying primary (mill/concentrate)
mineralization. This resource estimate utilizes all drilling completed to the
end of 2009 at the Haquira project (through drill hole AHAD-174). Highlights
from this interim resource estimate at a cut-off of 0.3% total Cu for primary
mineralization and 0.2% total Cu for leachable secondary mineralization are as
follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 10. Mineral Resource Summary Haquira Project - All Zones - February
2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resource Tonnes Cu Mo Au Ag lbs Cu
Classification (millions) % % g/t g/t (billions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary Copper Mineral Resources (Mill/Concentrate) - 0.3% Cu cut-off
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 68.9 0.64 0.015 0.045 1.84 0.97
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 285.7 0.63 0.014 0.044 1.78 3.93
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 333.7 0.54 0.009 0.032 1.59 3.94
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Secondary Copper Mineral Resources (leachable - SX/EW) - 0.2% Cu cut-off
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 59.4 0.52 0.68
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 155.6 0.44 1.52
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 72.2 0.41 0.65
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tetra Tech utilized floating cone evaluations of potential economic pit limits
on the Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources outlined above to determine
the following "in-pit" resources to be used for the preparation of this PEA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 11. In-pit resources utilized in Haquira PEA - July 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type of resource In-pit resource Grade Grade Grade Grade
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
t (000's) Cu % Mo% Au g/t Ag g/t
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SX-EW Open Pit (Yr 0-20) 208,934 0.422 - - -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flotation Open Pit (Yr 0.5-11) 357,700 0.564 0.015 0.037 1.601
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flotation Open Pit (Yr 12) 32,850 0.381 0.008 0.022 1.197
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flotation Open Pit (Yr 13-20) 269,233 0.314 0.006 0.017 1.050
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flotation Underground (Yr 5-15.5) 41,850 1.060 0.012 0.096 3.740
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Sensitivities
Project cash flow is highly sensitive to changes in the price of copper as
indicated in Table 4. The project is also sensitive to variations in capital and
operating costs as indicated in Table 12 below. These tables show the effect if
increasing or decreasing the Captial Expenditure and Operating Expenditure
estimates for the project by +/- 10% and +/- 20%.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Variance from Base Case CAPEX Variance from Base Case OPEX
Estimate Estimate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
post-tax +20% +10% base -10% -20% +20% +10% base -10% -20%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV (0%) 2701 3333 3911 4433 4900 2753 3332 3911 4489 5068
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV (5%) 809 1327 1800 2228 2612 1134 1467 1800 2133 2466
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV (8%) 167 639 1069 1460 1809 571 820 1069 1319 1568
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV
(10%) (141) 306 714 1084 1415 296 505 714 923 1132
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRR % 9.0 12.4 16.4 21.3 27.5 12.9 14.7 16.4 18.0 19.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 12. Project sensitivity to variations in Capital Expenditure and Operating
Expenditure
Qualified Persons and NI 43-101 Technical Report
The PEA summarized here for the Haquira project was completed by the mineral
resource and mining division of Tetra Tech Inc, an industry leading
international engineering firm, of Golden, Colorado and will be incorporated in
an updated NI 43-101 compliant, Independent Technical Report to be available on
SEDAR and the Antares Minerals website within 45 days from the date of this news
release. The mineral resource estimate upon which the PEA was based (see Antares
press release of February 26, 2010) was completed by or under the direction of
Mr. John Rozelle, PG, Tetra Tech's Mineral Resource Division Principal
Geologist, and an independent Qualified Person as set forth by NI 43-101. Mr.
Rozelle collaborated with Mr. Ed Lips, , Principal Mine Engineer, also of Tetra
Tech, Inc, and Dr. Deepak Malhotra, owner of Resource Development Inc.
(RDi),both Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101, to prepare the PEA
presented in this press release.
All of Antares' exploration programs and pertinent disclosure of a technical or
scientific nature are prepared by, or prepared under the direct supervision of
John Black, Antares' President and CEO, who serves as the Qualified Person (QP)
under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101. Antares' security, chain of
custody and quality control procedures are described on their website under the
section on best practices - sampling methodologies. Mr. Black has reviewed and
approved the information contained in this release.
All drilling at Haquira to the end of 2009 was incorporated into the PEA. In the
preparation of the PEA, Tetra Tech, Inc. received written or verbal data from
Antares staff, written opinions from a Lima law firm, metallurgical reports from
METCON Research, an independent testing lab in Tucson, Arizona, metallurgical
reports and development cost estimates from Resource Development Inc (RDi), an
independent testing lab in Wheatridge, Colorado, and electrical power supply
reports from PEPSA-Tecsult of Lima, Peru. The data utilized in the preparation
of this PEA were independently confirmed by Tetra Tech, Inc. The capital and
operating data developed in the PEA came from review of the metallurgical test
work, in-house Tetra Tech data and discussions with other consultants and copper
mining operations in Peru and elsewhere. The tax, royalty and legal information
were provided by Antares.
The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes the use of inferred resources
which are considered too speculative to apply economic considerations that would
enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources do not have
demonstrated economic viability and future in-fill drilling and scoping,
pre-feasibility and feasibility studies will determine what percentage of the
inferred resource can be placed into the mineable category. Thus, there is no
certainty that the production profile concluded in the PEA will be realized.
Actual results may vary, perhaps materially. Antares is not aware of any
environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or
other issue which may materially affect this estimate of mineral resources. The
projections, forecasts and estimates presented in the scoping study and PEA
constitute forward-looking statements and readers are urged not to place undue
reliance on such forward-looking statements. Additional cautionary and
forward-looking statement information is detailed at the end of this press
release.
Conference Call
Antares will hold an investor conference call on Friday July 23, at 1:00 PM
(EST) to discuss the results of the PEA and respond to questions from interested
parties. To access the call, please dial:
Canada and USA Toll-free: 1-866-838-1265
Outside Canada and USA: +1-416-915-8110
Passcode: 64187
An instant replay of the conference call will be available until August 22, 2010
at the numbers below:
Canada and USA Toll-free: 1-866-245-6755
Outside Canada and USA: +1-416-915-1035
An archived recording of the conference call will be available at
www.antaresminerals.com
About the Haquira Copper Project, Peru
The Haquira project is located in southern Peru and offers excellent potential
for the development of a large copper mine with production from both
near-surface secondary copper mineralization amenable to SX-EW leaching and from
a larger, underlying body of higher grade primary porphyry copper-molybdenum
mineralization to be processed by a conventional mill/concentrator operation.
The project is located contiguous to, and immediately south of, Xstrata Copper's
Las Bambas Cu-Au project and consists of two blocks of property acquired or
optioned under separate agreements as well as additional concessions acquired by
Antares for a total of 20,635 hectares of area. Antares has fulfilled the terms
of an option agreement and acquired a 100% interest in the original Haquira
project by completing optional payments totalling US$15 million over a five-year
period (see Antares press release dated March 17, 2005).
Antares also has an option agreement with Minera del Suroeste S.A.C. (MISOSA), a
wholly owned subsidiary of Hochschild Mining PLC, whereby Antares can acquire up
to a 60% interest in the Cristo de los Andes project, located contiguous to, and
immediately south of the Haquira project (see Antares press release dated April
28, 2008).
Additional information about the Haquira project is available on our website at
www.antaresminerals.com
About Antares
Antares is a successful mineral exploration company with highly experienced
technical and management teams. The Company is focused on precious- and
base-metal exploration properties in Latin America that can be quickly and
cost-effectively advanced to the discovery and production stage. In addition to
the Haquira Project in Peru, Antares is also currently exploring the Rio Grande
(Cu-Au porphyry) project in Salta Province of NW Argentina in a 50/50
option/joint-venture basis with Pachamama Resources Ltd., a spin-off from
Mansfield Minerals Inc.
Cautionary and Forward-looking Statement Information
Certain disclosure in this release, including management's assessment of
Antares' plans and projects, constitutes forward-looking statements that are
subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to Antares'
operation as a mineral exploration company that may cause future results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Mineral resources do not have demonstrated economic viability and future in-fill
drilling and scoping, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies will determine
what percentage of the inferred resource can be placed into the mineable
category. Antares is not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title,
taxation, socio-political, marketing or other issue which may materially affect
this estimate of mineral resources.
All diamond drilling at Haquira has been performed using HQ diameter core with
recoveries averaging greater than 95%. Core is logged and cut with a diamond saw
on site under the supervision of Antares geologists. Sampling is done on
intervals varying from 1-3 metres. Reverse-circulation drilling at Haquira
typically has recoveries averaging greater than 90% with some exceptions in
areas of difficult drilling conditions. Reverse circulation drilling samples are
routinely collected at 2 m intervals under the supervision of Antares staff. All
samples are transported by Antares vehicles or contract transport, accompanied
by Antares staff, to Arequipa, Peru for direct shipping to ALS Chemex
Laboratories in Lima. The QC/QA program includes the insertion of control
samples (known standards, blanks, and duplicates) comprising a minimum of 10% of
each sample batch.
All of Antares' exploration programs and pertinent disclosure of a technical or
scientific nature are prepared by or prepared under the direct supervision of
John Black, Antares' President and CEO, who serves as the qualified person (QP)
under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101. Antares' security, chain of
custody and quality control is described on their website under the section on
best practices - sampling methodologies.
All information contained in this press release relating to the contents of the
preliminary economic assessment (PEA), including but not limited to statements
of the project's potential and information under the headings " Key highlights
from the study " and "Summary of key financial parameters for the Haquira
project PEA" are "forward looking statements" within the definition of the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable
Canadian securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can
be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans",
"expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or
"believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain
actions, events or results "may", "can", "could", "would", "might" or "will be
taken", "occur" or "be achieved".
The PEA was prepared to broadly quantify the project's capital and operating
cost parameters and to provide guidance on the type and scale of future project
engineering and development work that will be needed to ultimately define the
project's likelihood of feasibility and optimal production rate. It was not
prepared to be used as a valuation of the project nor should it be considered to
be a pre-feasibility study. The capital and operating cost estimates which were
used have been developed only to an approximate order of magnitude based on
generally understood capital cost to production level relationships and they are
not based on any systematic engineering studies, so the ultimate costs may vary
widely from the amounts set out in the Study. This could materially and
adversely impact the projected economics of the project. As is normal at this
stage of a project, data are incomplete and estimates were developed based
solely on the expertise of the individuals involved. At this level of
engineering, the criteria, methods and estimates are very preliminary and result
in a high level of subjective judgment being employed.
The following are the principal risk factors and uncertainties which, in
management's opinion, are likely to most directly affect the conclusions of the
PEA and the ultimate feasibility of the project. The mineralized material at the
project is currently classified as resources and it is not reserves. The
mineralized material in the PEA is based only on the resource model developed by
the mineral resource and mining division of Tetra Tech, Inc. ("Tetra Tech"), a
professional mining engineering firm in Golden, Colorado in February, 2010.
Considerable additional work, including in-fill drilling, additional process
tests, and other engineering and geologic work will be required to determine if
the mineralized material is an economically exploitable reserve. There can be no
assurance that this mineralized material can become a reserve or that the amount
may be converted to a reserve or the grade thereof. Final feasibility work has
not been done to confirm the mine design, mining methods, and processing methods
assumed in the PEA. Final feasibility could determine that the assumed mine
design, mining methods, and processing methods are not correct. Construction and
operation of the mine and processing facilities depends on securing
environmental and other permits on a timely basis.
No construction or operation permits have been applied for and there can be no
assurance that required permits can be secured or secured on a timely basis.
Data are incomplete and cost estimates have been developed in part based on the
expertise of the individuals participating in the preparation of the PEA and on
costs at projects believed to be comparable, and not based on firm price quotes.
Costs, including design, procurement, construction, and on-going operating costs
and metal recoveries could be materially different from those contained in the
PEA. There can be no assurance that mining can be conducted at the rates and
grades assumed in the PEA. The PEA assumes specified, long-term price levels for
copper. The price for copper is historically volatile, and Antares has no
control of or influence on the price, which is determined in international
markets. There can be no assurance that the price of copper will continue at
current levels or that it will not decline below the prices assumed in the PEA.
The price of copper has been below the price range assumed in the PEA at times
during the past ten years, and for extended periods of time. The project will
require major financing, probably a combination of debt and equity financing.
Interest rates are at historically low levels. There can be no assurance that
debt and/or equity financing will be available on acceptable terms. A
significant increase in costs of capital could materially and adversely affect
the value and feasibility of constructing the project. Other general risks
include those ordinary to large construction projects including the general
uncertainties inherent in engineering and construction cost, the need to comply
with generally increasing environmental obligations, and accommodation of local
and community concerns.
Antares Minerals (TSXV:ANM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2024 to Nov 2024
Antares Minerals (TSXV:ANM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2023 to Nov 2024
