Camino Corp. (TSXV:COR) has entered into a Definitive Agreement with Japanese miner Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd. for its Los Chapitos copper exploration project in Peru.
Under the terms of the agreement, Nittetsu can earn a 35% interest in the Project by making payments and expenditures totalling C$10,100,000 over three years. Proceeds will be applied towards exploration, infill drilling, and metallurgical and engineering studies. After successful completion of the earn-in period, the Project will become a Joint Venture, whereby Camino will hold a 65% interest, remain operator of the Project, and retain 50% of the production off-take.
“Nittetsu is an experienced copper mining operator and a partner that is focussed on funding our Los Chapitos Project towards a development decision,” said Jay Chmelauskas, President and CEO of Camino.
“We plan to continue to explore our property to expand the known zones of copper mineralization to determine a potential mine size. We have known the Nittetsu team for over two years, and we believe that our partnership will realize the best development opportunity and value creation at Los Chapitos.”
Key Terms:
- Payment to Camino of C$100,000 completed in February 2023.
- Nittetsu to pay Camino C$1,000,000 within five business days.
- Nittetsu to incur earn-in expenditures of C$9,000,000 over a three-year period to earn a 35% project interest in the Los Chapitos Project with no accruing interest rights.
- First installment payment of CAD $1,500,000 to be made within five business days.
- Upon completion of the 35% interest acquisition by Nittetsu, a Joint Venture between parties will be established.
- Camino to remain the operator of the Project.
- Off-take on commercial basis to be shared 50% by each party.
- Exploration programs to begin immediately at the Los Chapitos Project.
“Our partnership with Nittetsu is another step towards developing our copper platform at Camino,” said Keith Peck, Executive Chairman of Camino. “The advancement of Los Chapitos with Nittetsu will complement our other active corporate development activities to seek more advanced stage copper projects ahead of a strong copper market.”
Exploration is expected to commence immediately in June to complete the plan for the first six-month installment period.
The initial exploration programme is planned to consist of mapping, geophysics, and road access to identify and prepare high-priority drilling targets. In addition, the company is anticipating the receipt of an expanded EIA permit that will open more than 6,012 hectares for exploration drilling.
The Los Chapitos Project is located in the IOCG belt of the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile and southern Peru. The Mina Justa IOCG copper mine is located approximately 100 km north of Los Chapitos in southern Peru and is notably one of the world’s newest large scale copper producers behind Quellaveco (Peru) and Kamoa-Kakula (DRC). Other major deposits in this IOCG belt include Mantoverde (Chile) and Candelaria (Chile) and there are dozens of other smaller scale copper deposits.
For further information please visit: https://caminocorp.com/
