{kanada_flagge}Tokyo-listed miner Nittetsu Mining Co. Ltd (1515:TYO) has interest in Camino Corp’s (TSXV:COR) (OTC:CAMZF) (FRA:A116E1) Los Chapitos copper project in Peru. Camino announced today that the two parties initially signed a non-binding letter of intent on January 31, 2023, granting Nittetsu an exclusive due diligence period until the end of April this year. If this review is positive, Nittetsu could earn a 35% interest in the project by making payments and expenditures totaling CAD10,100,000 over a three-year period. Proceeds would be used for exploration, infill drilling, and metallurgical and engineering studies. Camino would continue to be the operator of the project. Nittetsu operates the Atacama Kozan copper mine in northern Chile, which was developed from an iron oxide copper-gold (“IOCG”) deposit similar to Camino’s Los Chapitos copper project.
{kanada_flagge}Tokyo-listed miner Nittetsu Mining Co. Ltd (1515:TYO) has interest in Camino Corp’s (TSXV:COR) (OTC:CAMZF) (FRA:A116E1) Los Chapitos copper project in Peru. Camino announced today that the two parties initially signed a non-binding letter of intent on January 31, 2023, granting Nittetsu an exclusive due diligence period until the end of April this year. If this review is positive, Nittetsu could earn a 35% interest in the project by making payments and expenditures totaling CAD10,100,000 over a three-year period. Proceeds would be used for exploration, infill drilling, and metallurgical and engineering studies. Camino would continue to be the operator of the project. Nittetsu operates the Atacama Kozan copper mine in northern Chile, which was developed from an iron oxide copper-gold (“IOCG”) deposit similar to Camino’s Los Chapitos copper project.
Jay Chmelauskas, CEO of Camino commented, “We are seeking to partner with Japanese mining company Nittetsu to fund Los Chapitos for up to three years. Nittetsu is the operator of the Atacama Kozan mine, located in the prolific iron oxide-copper-gold belt in Chile, adjacent to one of the world’s largest IOCG copper mines, Candelaria. Our Japanese partners have extensive mining and geological exploration expertise in a renowned IOCG belt that they can bring to our site in southern Peru. Interest in southern Peru as an underexplored IOCG mining district has increased and Nittetsu has recognized our Los Chapitos project as one of the most advanced exploration projects in this coastal cordillera.”
Nittetsu will pay Camino CAD100,000 upon signing of the Letter of Intent for three months of exclusivity to conduct further due diligence. A further CAD1,000,000 is due upon signing of a definitive agreement. This is expected to be completed by the end of April 2023.
Nittetsu is required to incur expenditures of CAD9,000,000 over a three-year period to acquire a 35% project interest in the Los Chapitos project, which will not accrue interest rights. Upon completion of the acquisition of the 35% interest by Nittetsu, a joint venture will be formed between the parties. Camino will remain the operator of the project.
The Los Chapitos project is located in the IOCG belt of the Coastal Cordillera in 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 one of the youngest major copper producers in the world after 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 copper deposits (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. copper-rich IOCG deposits spanning southern Peru and northern Chile.
Conclusion: The fact that a well-known Japanese group is willing – subject to appraisal – to take the further exploration risk on the Chapitos IOCG copper project in Peru says a lot about the high quality and attractiveness of the project. The Group is judging the potential precisely not by the current price of the Camino share, but by the actual potential. The stock market has punished the copper explorer Camino with disinterest over the past year. The share price is currently languishing at CAD 0.04, making a capital increase basically impossible due to the threat of dilution. An earn-in and moderate dilution at the project level is the only viable option. As a reminder, the current market value of Camino is CAD 6.9 million and reflects only a fraction of what has been invested in Los Chapitos in the past – and not even counting the second Camino project, Maria Cecilia. In 2017, the stock market value was briefly more than CAD 2 following a discovery hole at Chapitos. In total, more than CAD 50 million has gone into exploration at both Caminö projects. After a deal with Nittetsu, Camino would at least have the choice of whether to seek a partner for Maria Cecilia as well, or to develop this project on its own.
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