Purchase Option Extended by One Year
With the copper, gold, and iron ore processing plant El Peñón, Canadian Altiplano Metals (WKN A2JNFG / TSXV APN) has an extremely valuable facility in Chile. Until now, the processing plant, where a new crusher has just been installed to increase capacity, has been supplied with material from the Farellon underground mine (copper, gold, and iron); however, it is expected that ore from the Santa Beatriz mine will also be fed into the plant in the near future. Altiplano now provides an update on the current state of affairs in this regard.
The company has just announced that it has extended the option to acquire the Santa Beatriz mine, located just 13 kilometers from the El Peñón plant, by one year until December 2025. According to the company, this opens up the possibility of continuing exploration and mining development. The original conditions for purchasing the mine remain unchanged, while the monthly fees increase from 3.5 to 5 million Chilean pesos (4,850 euros).
Mining Permit Can Be Quickly Expanded to 5,000 Tons per Month
Santa Beatriz currently has a production permit for 2,000 tons per month, with the capacity to expand to 5,000 tons per month under the national small-scale mining permitting process. Altiplano intends to take this step directly when the timing is right, which according to the company can be completed within a few weeks of submitting the application. The company also already has permits for the use and storage of explosives for ongoing mining operations.
Altiplano is also advancing preparatory work for the extraction of copper, gold, and iron ore material at Santa Beatriz, which is to be processed at the El Peñón plant.
According to the company, dewatering and rehabilitation of the deeper parts of the mine have already been completed. In addition, Altiplano has exposed, examined, mapped, and sampled a further 150 meters of the historical mining area. The company has also identified an initial zone of 3,500 tons of mineralized material from which bulk samples are to be taken.
All in all, the first delivery to the plant is already planned for the beginning of this month!
A Larger Copper and Gold System?
The Santa Beatriz mine is located just 2 kilometers from the Farellon mine, and the IOCG-type veins at Farellon and Santa Beatriz show similar mineral properties and a northeastern orientation. According to Altiplano, this suggests that the mineralogy of the projects in this area could be part of a larger system. The company sees potential for the development of a high-grade copper and iron resource with accompanying gold at Santa Beatriz, particularly due to the similarities to Farellon.
At Farellon, Altiplano generated 22.5 million CAD after processing costs between December 2018 and September 2024 through the mining and sale of more than 6.95 million pounds of copper. Similar success is now hoped for at Santa Beatriz, although no advanced technical study has yet been prepared to support a potential production decision to demonstrate this in advance.
We look forward to further news in 2025, not only from the Santa Beatriz mine, and hope that there will be rapid further progress!
