VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — (Marketwired) — 09/12/13 — AQM Copper Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AQM)(BVL: AQM) („AQM“ or the „Company“) is pleased to announce the completion of a positive, independent Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment („PEA Update „) of the Company-s Zafranal Project („Project“) located in the Southern Peru Porphyry Copper Belt. This PEA Update follows the PEA issued on January 18, 2013 („January 2013 PEA“) that was based on concentrator throughput of 80,000 tonnes per day (t/d), producing an average of 93,907 tonnes per annum (t/a) of copper in concentrate and a heap leach and electrowinning process expected to yield an average of 9,276 t/a of high quality copper cathode from oxide and secondary sulphide material.
The PEA Update was commissioned to examine opportunities to develop a smaller, less capital-intensive project that would incorporate an alternative water source to desalinated seawater, while using the same long-term forecasted copper (Cu) and gold (Au) prices as those used in the January 2013 PEA, US$3.00/lb and US$1,274/oz, respectively.
The PEA Update was completed by Tetra Tech, and contains production parameters, capital costs, operating costs, pre-tax and post-tax financial projections for an open pit mine processing 44,000 t/d of mill feed, producing an average of 54,556 t/a of copper in concentrate and a heap leach and electrowinning process expected to yield an average of 5,949 t/a of copper cathode. The Project is projected to yield the following financial results:
Tetra Tech prepared the PEA Update including a new resource estimate based on a revised geological model of the Zafranal Main and Victoria Zones, which incorporates 39 additional drill holes. The resource estimate included in the PEA Update pertains to the Main and Victoria Zones, whereas the January 2013 PEA also included resources from the Sicera Norte and Sicera Sur Zones. Sicera Norte and Sicera Sur Zones were excluded from the updated resource estimation, as these deposits were deemed uneconomical given their tonnage and grade of mineralization and distance from the proposed process facilities. A summary of the mineral resource for the PEA Update at a 0.2% and a 0.3% copper cut-off grade appears in the following tables:
The reader should be aware that this economic assessment is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The valuation is based on 100% of the Project and 100% Equity. The reader should also be aware that there is no certainty that the results projected in the preliminary economic assessment of the Project will be realized.
PEA UPDATE HIGHLIGHTS
Bruce Turner, President and Chief Executive Officer of AQM states, „We are very pleased with the results of the PEA Update as it provides the Company with an attractive alternative project development to that considered in the January 2013 PEA on the basis of water supply, site layout, and capital and operating costs. As a result of our engagement with the regional and local authorities and representatives of organizations of water users, we believe the Majes River will provide a viable water supply alternative to the previously proposed desalination plant and we will continue to discuss this option with communities located in the Majes River Basin. In addition, changes to the layout and mine plan, which now include a 3.7 km tunnel to feed material from the pit to the mill coupled with the reduced production requirements has significantly reduced our capital and operating cost estimates. We believe the revised plan to be an attractive option and the proposed production levels provide an opportunity to optimize feed grade throughout the life of the mine. We are now in a position to decide on an appropriate development scenario for the project and take it to the next level of engineering.“
PEA SUMMARY
LOCATION:
GEOLOGY:
MINERAL RESOURCE:
MINING:
MILLING:
LEACHING:
SITE ACCESS:
FRESH WATER SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION:
POWER SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION:
SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENT:
INITIAL CAPITAL COSTS:
PRODUCTION QUANTITIES:
OPERATING COSTS
FINANCIAL SENSITIVITIES:
Qualified Persons
The NI 43-101 Technical Report has been prepared by an integrated engineering team led by Tetra Tech in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of the Press Release date. Further information regarding geology, sampling methods, data verification, QA/QC and assay lab is provided in the NI 43-101 Technical Report dated May 7, 2012, and the Technical Report and Preliminary Assessment of the Zafranal Project dated January 16, 2013,filed on SEDAR at and can be found on the Company-s website at .
The following Qualified Persons have reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this press release:
On Behalf of the Board
AQM COPPER INC.
Bruce L. Turner, President and Chief Executive Officer
About AQM Copper
AQM Copper Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company exploring and developing copper deposits in South America. Through its Peruvian subsidiary, Minera AQM Copper Peru S.A.C. (MAQM), the Company is developing the Zafranal Copper-Gold Porphyry Project located in Southern Peru. MAQM is the operator of a 50/50 Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited through a sole purpose Peruvian company, Compania Minera Zafranal. MAQM is owned 60% by AQM Copper Inc. and 40% by Mitsubishi Materials Corporation pursuant to a transaction as outlined in the Company-s press release of July 2, 2013.
The Company published a favourable independent Preliminary Economic Assessment („PEA“) in January 2013 which reported a NI 43-101 compliant Measured and Indicated Resource of 557.2 Mt grading 0.36% Cu and 0.07 g/t Au. The PEA was completed by Tetra Tech WEI Inc., („Tetra Tech“), and contains production parameters, capital costs, operating costs, pre-tax and post-tax financial projections for an open pit mine processing 80,000 t/d of mill feed and a leach operation based on the treatment of approximately 20,000 t/d of oxide and secondary sulphide material. Using long-term forecasted copper and gold prices of US$3.00/lb and US$1,274/oz respectively; and an initial capital cost of US$ 1,520 million, the Project is projected to yield a post-tax Net Present Value at 8% discount rate, of US$ 588 million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 17.4%. The valuation is based on 100% of the Project and 100% Equity. The reader should be aware that the preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. The reader should also be aware that there is no certainty that the results forecast in the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
The Company-s management and directors have extensive experience working for the world-s largest mining copper producers and investment banking backgrounds. Please refer to the Company-s website at , for further information regarding the Company and the Zafranal Project.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Except for statements of historical fact relating to AQM Copper Inc., certain information contained herein constitutes „forward-looking statements“. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as „expects“, „anticipates“, „plans“, „believes“, „considers“, „intends“, „targets“, or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as „may“, „will“, „should“, „would“ and „could“. We provide forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about our current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those identified and reported in AQM Copper Inc-s public filings, which may be accessed at . Other than as specifically required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events, results or otherwise.
To speak with an Investor Relations representative, please see the contact information below.
Contacts: Pinnacle Capital Markets LTD. Spyros P. Karellas (416) 443-5696 / (416) 800-8921
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