Some people have money and some have only debt, some places grow and others don’t: there is always bull market somewhere.
FT:
“China is set to gain access to sizeable copper deposits in Ecuador following an agreed C$679m (US$652m) cash bid for Vancouver-based Corriente Resources.
The move – by China Railway Construction and Tongling Nonferrous Metals – is the latest in a string of Chinese acquisitions of Canadian resource companies and part of a drive to expand access to metals, oil and other commodities in various parts of the world.
China Railway, the biggest railway builder in China, and Tongling, a large copper miner and processor, said their bid for Corriente was in line with their long-term strategies. China Railway said it had “added development of mineral resources as one of its principal operations”.
The move – by China Railway Construction and Tongling Nonferrous Metals – is the latest in a string of Chinese acquisitions of Canadian resource companies and part of a drive to expand access to metals, oil and other commodities in various parts of the world.
China Railway, the biggest railway builder in China, and Tongling, a large copper miner and processor, said their bid for Corriente was in line with their long-term strategies. China Railway said it had “added development of mineral resources as one of its principal operations”.
We were jealous recently with agressive attitude of Premier Gold to the exploration, now Rob McEwen puts three rigs to drill Los Azules. Objective is to define high grade core in order to further improve economics and step out drilling to increase the deposit size. When you are drilling holes in the the swiss cheese, hopefully you will find cheese. We have a good odds that deposit will be increased further in size and we will have a higher definition of its resource. TNR Gold (“The Company) fully intends on exercising its back-in right to the properties at the appropriate time.” – it means that stakes are growing with the Copper price and further drilling results. Deals like Tongling with China Railway Construction Corporation acquaring copper assets in Ecuador will bring Los Azules under the spotlight. Tonling is a shareholder in Canada Zinc Metals and CZX.v is a shareholder of TNR Gold. Boardroom games around this prize promise to be interesting.
Press Release Source: TNR Gold Corp. On Wednesday January 13, 2010, 9:50 am EST
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – Jan. 13, 2010) – TNR Gold Corp. (“TNR” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:TNR – News) is pleased to provide the following update on the status of its Los Azules project located in the San Juan Province of western central Argentina.
Minera Andes Inc. (“MAI”) announced yesterday that they commenced a diamond drill program of approximately 8,800 metres at the Los Azules project. Please refer to MAI’s news release dated January 12, 2010 for further details on the exploration program.
The Los Azules project is an advanced exploration project currently reporting a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Inferred Resource. TNR retains a 25 per-cent back-in right to certain of the properties, the terms of which are currently the subject of a legal dispute with Xstrata, which assigned its interest to MAI. A court date is set for the fall of 2010. The Company fully intends on exercising its back-in right to the properties at the appropriate time. In the legal dispute with Xstrata, TNR is also seeking confirmation of its ownership of the Escorpio IV property, which is located adjacent to the Project, and a declaration that the Escorpio IV property is excluded from the Exploration and Option Agreement.
ABOUT TNR GOLD CORP.
TNR is a diversified metals exploration company focused on exploring existing properties and identifying new prospective projects globally. TNR has a portfolio of 18 active projects, of which 9 will be included in the proposed spin-off of International Lithium Corp. For further details of the spin-off please refer to TNR’s April 27, 2009 news release or visit http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ao6p1RVZhGydNz8qFwG3FZatcq9_;_ylu=X3oDMTE2NjRmOGl1BHBvcwMxBHNlYwNuZXdzYXJ0Ym9keQRzbGsDaHR0cHd3d2ludGVy/SIG=11907bp0b/**http%3A//www.internationallithium.com/.
The recent acquisition of lithium, other rare metals and rare-earth elements projects in Argentina, Canada, USA and Ireland confirms the company’s commitments to generating projects, diversifying its markets, and building shareholder value.
On behalf of the Board,
Gary Schellenberg – President
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – Jan. 13, 2010) – TNR Gold Corp. (“TNR” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:TNR – News) is pleased to provide the following update on the status of its Los Azules project located in the San Juan Province of western central Argentina.
Minera Andes Inc. (“MAI”) announced yesterday that they commenced a diamond drill program of approximately 8,800 metres at the Los Azules project. Please refer to MAI’s news release dated January 12, 2010 for further details on the exploration program.
The Los Azules project is an advanced exploration project currently reporting a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Inferred Resource. TNR retains a 25 per-cent back-in right to certain of the properties, the terms of which are currently the subject of a legal dispute with Xstrata, which assigned its interest to MAI. A court date is set for the fall of 2010. The Company fully intends on exercising its back-in right to the properties at the appropriate time. In the legal dispute with Xstrata, TNR is also seeking confirmation of its ownership of the Escorpio IV property, which is located adjacent to the Project, and a declaration that the Escorpio IV property is excluded from the Exploration and Option Agreement.
ABOUT TNR GOLD CORP.
TNR is a diversified metals exploration company focused on exploring existing properties and identifying new prospective projects globally. TNR has a portfolio of 18 active projects, of which 9 will be included in the proposed spin-off of International Lithium Corp. For further details of the spin-off please refer to TNR’s April 27, 2009 news release or visit http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ao6p1RVZhGydNz8qFwG3FZatcq9_;_ylu=X3oDMTE2NjRmOGl1BHBvcwMxBHNlYwNuZXdzYXJ0Ym9keQRzbGsDaHR0cHd3d2ludGVy/SIG=11907bp0b/**http%3A//www.internationallithium.com/.
The recent acquisition of lithium, other rare metals and rare-earth elements projects in Argentina, Canada, USA and Ireland confirms the company’s commitments to generating projects, diversifying its markets, and building shareholder value.
On behalf of the Board,
Gary Schellenberg – President
Minera Andes Exploration Update
January 12, 2010: 03:31 PM ET
Minera Andes Inc. (the “Corporation” or “Minera Andes”) (TSX: MAI)(OTCBB: MNEAF) is pleased to provide an exploration update on its activities in Argentina. Two diamond drills arrived at Los Azules in December and initiated drilling. A third diamond drill arrived the first week of January. Drilling will continue until the field season closes in mid-to late-April.
The objective of the drilling program is to expand the known limits of the mineralization, look for extensions of high-grade mineralization, and to increase the confidence level of the current inferred resource. The Company plans to drill approximately 8,800 meters of diamond drilling during the field season. More geological mapping and geophysical work will be conducted during the field season to target possible extensions of the mineralization.
Los Azules is a large copper porphyry system located in western San Juan province in a belt of porphyry copper deposits that straddles the border between Chile and Argentina. This belt contains some of the world’s largest copper deposits, including Codelco’s El Teniente and Andina mines, Anglo American’s Los Bronces mine, Antofagasta PLC’s Los Pelambres mine and Xstrata’s El Pachon project, among others. The San Juan province is one of the most mining-friendly regions in Argentina.
Los Azules has an inferred mineral resource of 922 million tonnes grading 0.55 percent copper and containing 11.2 billion pounds of copper at a cutoff grade of 0.35 percent copper. There is high-grade, near-surface core of 161 million tonnes grading 0.87 percent copper and containing 3.1 billion pounds of copper at a cutoff grade of 0.70 percent copper. The known resource covers an area approximately 3.7 kilometers by 1 kilometer in size and is open at depth and laterally.
Now Los Azules is a Top Project for Rob McEwen according to Minera Andes presentation:
More on the Canaccord valuation of Los Azules:
“Rob McEwen CEO of Minera Andes was marketing Los Azules in San Francisco with the following:
“Los Azules Copper Discovery
Inferred resource containing over 11 billion pounds of copper.
Larger than 83% of the world’s copper deposit.
Open at depth and to the north for over 2 miles.
High Grade Core: Approximately 105 million tons of 1% copper near-surface!
Los Azules Preliminary Assessment
NPV (USD 3.0/lb, 8% discount rate) – $4 Billion
IRR – 25%
Initial Capital Expenditure – 2.7 Billion
Mine Life – 23.6 years.
“Los Azules Copper Discovery
Inferred resource containing over 11 billion pounds of copper.
Larger than 83% of the world’s copper deposit.
Open at depth and to the north for over 2 miles.
High Grade Core: Approximately 105 million tons of 1% copper near-surface!
Los Azules Preliminary Assessment
NPV (USD 3.0/lb, 8% discount rate) – $4 Billion
IRR – 25%
Initial Capital Expenditure – 2.7 Billion
Mine Life – 23.6 years.
“TNR has George K. Macintosh, Q.C.- one of the best lawyers in Canada working on the case. It will be interesting to see how law suit with Xstrata will go on and weather Rob McEwen will be open to a deal with a junior in order to clear the title of Los Azules and be able to market Los Azules project on the market. Canada Zinc Metals CZX.v stays as a wild card in the game with Chinese Tongling owning 13%. With recent activity in share price of CZX.v, we will not be surprised that Canaccord is right and company will be taken out at one stage. In this case Chinese Tongling as a shareholders in TNR Gold will add spice to the game around this huge Copper and gold mine in Argentina.
We are long standing shareholders in Canada Zinc Metals, TNR Gold and Minera Andes: we are biased and do not take anything as an investment advise as usual, please.”
Canaccord highlighted recently Los Azules story in the mass media in Canada:
“BNN speaks to Wendell Zerb, vice president and senior mining analyst, Canaccord Adams, who explains why there’s reason to be optimistic about the small cap mining sector this year.”
“BNN speaks to Wendell Zerb, vice president and senior mining analyst, Canaccord Adams, who explains why there’s reason to be optimistic about the small cap mining sector this year.”
“Top picks on the tube. Canaccord Adams Senior Mining Analyst Wendell Zerb was interviewed on BNN Tuesday, discussing the junior mining sector and what to expect in 2010. The three top picks Zerb highlighted were: Copper Mountain , Minera Andes and Exeter Resources. Copper Mountain ‘s primary asset is the Similco open pit copper mine (previously producing) in southern British Columbia . The current mine plan, as detailed in a July 2008 Feasibility study conducted by Hatch Ltd. (reserves and mine life were updated in April 2009), is based on a conventional open pit mine with a 35,000 tonne-per-day mill, producing a LOM average of approximately 83 million pounds of copper per year with gold and silver credits over an 18-yearmine life. Production is scheduled to commence in mid-2011. The Proven and Probable mineral reserve (0.15% Cu cut-off) totals 211.2 million tonnes averaging 0.36% Cu containing 1.68 billion pounds of copper. Zerb believes the Similco mine would be good fit as a bolt-on acquisition for a small- to mid-sized, North American based copper producer.
Minera Andes is a small cap silver/gold producer with a portfolio of additional exploration/development projects. The company has a 49% interest (Hochschild Mining 51%) in the San Jose silver/gold mine in southern Argentina . A second focus is on the Los Azules copper porphyry prospect (100%) in San Juan province, Argentina . Zerb forecasts Minera Andes ’ annual attributable productionramping up to over 100,000 oz AuEq at total cash costs of approximately US$300/oz AuEq within 12 months. He expects the valuation gap that currently exists between Minera Andes and many of its junior gold producer peers to partially close during this time frame. Zerb also views favourably Minera Andes ’ 100% interest in the promising Los Azules copper development asset.”
Minera Andes is a small cap silver/gold producer with a portfolio of additional exploration/development projects. The company has a 49% interest (Hochschild Mining 51%) in the San Jose silver/gold mine in southern Argentina . A second focus is on the Los Azules copper porphyry prospect (100%) in San Juan province, Argentina . Zerb forecasts Minera Andes ’ annual attributable productionramping up to over 100,000 oz AuEq at total cash costs of approximately US$300/oz AuEq within 12 months. He expects the valuation gap that currently exists between Minera Andes and many of its junior gold producer peers to partially close during this time frame. Zerb also views favourably Minera Andes ’ 100% interest in the promising Los Azules copper development asset.”
