Cañariaco Norte is a 100% owned porphyry copper deposit within a prolific trend of producing mines and known deposits in northern Peru.
Since 2004, Alta Copper has drilled more than 85,000m in 289 drill holes at Cañariaco Norte to define a 9.3B pounds Measured and Indicated Resource, plus 2.7B pounds Inferred Porphyry Copper Deposit, with excellent expansion potential through two nearby, 100% owned porphyry targets, one of which has an initial Inferred Resource of 2.2B pounds of copper, 1.2M ounces of gold and 15.0M ounces of silver. Cañariaco Norte also contains a Measured and Indicated Resource of 2.14M ounces of gold and 59.43M ounces of silver plus an additional Inferred Resource of 0.54M ounces of gold and 18.09M ounces of silver.
In January 2022, a Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) was completed and returned exceptional economics, with an after-tax Net Present Value (“NPV”) of US$1.01B using the base case US$3.50/lb copper and an 8% discount rate. The NPV increases to US$1.83B when using US$4.50/lb copper.
Cañariaco 2022 PEA Highlights:
Note: The 2022 PEA mine plan only includes resources from Cañariaco Norte, not the resource estimate recently completed for a portion of Cañariaco Sur, which contains 2.2B pounds of copper, 1.2M ounces of gold and 15.0M ounces of silver.
| NPV Sensitivities (US$M) (after tax) | ||||
| Copper Price US$/lb | ||||
| $3.25 | $3.50 | $4.00 | $4.50 | $5.00 |
6% Discount | $1,286 | $1,556 | $2,092 | $2,624 | $3,153 |
8% Discount | $802 | $1,010 | $1,423 | $1,833 | $2,241 |
IRR | 14.8% | 16.3% | 19.2% | 21.9% | 24.4% |
Average Annual Cash Flow | 204 | 229 | 278 | 326 | 375 |
Payback (Years) | 7.9 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 4.5 | 3.8 |
*All cases with US$1,650/oz gold and US$21.50/oz silver.
Cañariaco Norte Mineral Resource Estimate (0.15% Copper Cut-off Grade)
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| Contained Metal | ||
Resource Classification | tonnes | Cu Eq (%) | Cu (%) | Au | Ag | Copper | Gold | Silver |
Measured | 423.5 | 0.48 | 0.43 | 0.07 | 1.9 | 4.04 | 0.98 | 25.71 |
Indicated | 670.7 | 0.39 | 0.36 | 0.05 | 1.6 | 5.25 | 1.16 | 33.72 |
Measured+ Indicated | 1,094.2 | 0.42 | 0.39 | 0.06 | 1.7 | 9.29 | 2.14 | 59.43 |
Inferred | 410.6 | 0.32 | 0.29 | 0.04 | 1.4 | 2.66 | 0.55 | 18.09 |
Cañariaco Norte Copper Deposit location map
Exploration drilling at Cañariaco Sur has confirmed the presence of a large copper-gold-silver porphyry system and an Initial Inferred Mineral Resource has been estimated for the portion of the Cañariaco Sur deposit drilled to date.
The initial Inferred Resource contains 2.2 billion pounds of copper, 1.2 million ounces of gold and 15 million ounces of silver in Cañariaco Sur. (Please refer to Cañariaco Sur page for complete resource details). This deposit contains higher levels of gold and molybdenum than Cañariaco Norte, minimal arsenic levels and mineralization that starts at surface.
Due to the close proximity of Sur to Cañariaco Norte (less than 2 kms) and the possibility to share use of facilities planned for Cañariaco Norte, management is confident that Sur has excellent potential to become a mineable deposit, thereby increasing the potential size and scope of the overall project.
(More details available on the Cañariaco Sur Project Page)
(More details available on the Quebrada Verde Project Page)
*Copper equivalent grade including gold and silver values and based on 100% metal recoveries. Copper grade equivalent calculation. Cu Eq% =(Cu % + ((Au grade x Au price)+(Ag grade x Ag price))/(22.0462 x Cu price x 31.0135 g/t)
**Copper equivalent grade including gold and silver, metal recoveries (gold 55%; silver 50%) and smelter returns (copper 96.5%: gold 93%; silver 90%) applied. Copper grade equivalent calculation: Cu Eq% =(Cu % + ((Au grade x Au price x Au recovery x Au smelter return%)+(Ag grade x Ag price x Ag recovery x Ag smelter return%))/(22.0462 x Cu price x 31.0135 g/t x Cu recovery x Cu smelter return%)