Work to commence immediately
After years of uncertainty, the Peruvian government has granted Canadian mining junior Cerro de Pasco Resources Inc. (CSE: CDPR; OTCPK: GPPRF; FWB: N8HP) the exploration and timely production of the large-scale Quiulacocha tailings project (“QT Project”). The government decision, which was preceded by an extensive process led by the Ministry of Energy and Mines, lifts the blockade by the state-owned company Activos Mineros SAC (“AMSAC”), which was originally commissioned to rehabilitate the property under the state’s environmental liability in the course of the privatization of the state-owned mining company Centromin in the late 1990s.
CDPR will pay a deposit of around US$ 1 million to the National Bank for the right of use and will receive permission to enter the El Metalurgista concession and begin work immediately. In Peru, rights of use of this kind have only rarely been granted in the past. The project in the Andean town of Cerro de Pasco, 4,300 meters above sea level, is considered one of the largest surface resource projects in the world, containing considerable quantities of precious and critical metals in addition to non-ferrous metals. The Cerro de Pasco company plans to extract the metal still contained in the tailings and at the same time promote environmental remediation. The original Cerro de Pasco project repeatedly made negative headlines worldwide due to critical reporting, including by National Geographic (2017) and campaigns by Green Peace – most recently in 2020 during the vote on the Swiss Responsible Business Initiative.
Quiulacocha tailings contain an estimated 75m tonnes of material
The Quiulacocha tailings storage facility covers around 115 hectares and contains an estimated 75 million tons of material that was deposited in the Quiulacocha tailings storage facility between the 1920s and 1990s. These are processing residues from the Cerro de Pasco open-cast and underground mine. Originally, the tailings came from the mining of more than 16 million tonnes of copper-silver-gold mineralization with historical grades of up to 10% Cu, 4 g/t Au and over 300 g/t Ag, and later from the mining of more than 58 million tonnes of zinc-lead-silver bearing material with an average grade of 7.41% Zn, 2.77% Pb and 90.33 g/t Ag.
CEO Guy Goulet commented: “This is a milestone for CDPR. We have been seeking this right for years and we have managed to meet all the conditions to date and now overcome the blockade by AMSAC. We had hoped for this success earlier, but we are aware that the approval of such a special decision requires a high degree of diligence. Now that we have reached this milestone, we are confident that we can complete the subsequent steps more quickly. I would like to thank the authorities involved who have guided us through this process. This project is fully supported by the local municipality and is also urgently needed by the city of Cerro de Pasco. It will bring innovation, health and environmental benefits as well as a much needed boost to the local economy.”
Cerro de Pasco Resources intends to take advantage of the upcoming dry period in the Andes (June to November) for drilling. At the same time, the company will negotiate terms to extend drilling to the entire QT project site, beyond the boundaries of the El Metalurgista concession. The Company anticipates that 40 short drill holes will be sufficient to establish a 43-101 resource for Quiulacocha.
Conclusion: The Peruvian state has made a courageous decision, ultimately giving priority to a private Canadian company - Cerro de Pasco Resources - over its own state agency - Activos Mineros. This would probably not be easy for any state. Four ministries had to give their consent: the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Mines, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Housing, whereby the ministers responsible changed several times during the lengthy process. In the end, the conviction prevailed that it is better to eliminate the Quiulacocha contaminated site by allowing its economic exploitation than to perpetuate the status quo by neutralizing the environmentally harmful acid leakage of the tailings year after year at great expense. The government decision now before us puts an end to years of uncertainty for Cerro de Pasco shareholders. They can look forward to a bright future, as the project could quickly become very profitable in conjunction with the existing infrastructure. However, the local community of Cerro de Pasco and its residents are among the main beneficiaries. CEO Guy Goulet is promising innovation, health and environmental benefits as well as a much-needed boost to the local economy. We have been following the development of Cerro de Pasco on www.goldinvest.de since 2019 and are delighted for the company. Now, finally, the work can begin!
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Pursuant to §34b WpHG (Securities Trading Act) and in accordance with Paragraph 48f (5) BörseG (Austrian Stock Exchange Act) we would like to point out that principals, partners, authors and employees of GOLDINVEST Consulting GmbH hold shares in Cerro de Pasco Resources and therefore a conflict of interest exists. We also cannot exclude that other stock letters, media or research firms discuss Cerro de Pasco Resources during the same period. Therefore, symmetrical information and opinion generation may occur during this period. Furthermore, GOLDINVEST Consulting GmbH, is trying to enter a contractual service releationship with Cerro de Pasco Resources which means that a conflict of interest exists, here, too.
