Aftermath Silver Announces Transformative Acquisition of the Berenguela Silver-Copper Project, Peru Historic 98 Million Ounces of Silver Measured & Indicated plus 28 Million Ounces of Silver Inferred
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 27, 2020
(AAG2020 – NR #9)
Aftermath Silver Announces Transformative Acquisition of the
Berenguela Silver-Copper Project, Peru
Historic 98 Million Ounces of Silver Measured & Indicated plus 28 Million
Ounces of Silver Inferred
Vancouver, BC, July 27, 20 20 – Aftermath Silver Ltd. (the “Company” or “Aftermath
Silver”) (TSX-V: AAG) (OTCQB: AAGFF) (“Aftermath Silver” or the “Company”) is pleased
to announce that it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent (the “LOI”) with SSR Mining Inc.
(“SSRM”) to purchase 100% of the Berenguela silver -copper project located in Puno, Peru
(“Berenguela” or the “Project”) through the purchase of 100% of SSR M’s shares in the Peruvian
holding company Sociedad Minera Berenguela S.A. (“SOMINBESA”).
Berenguela Silver – Copper Project Highlights
• Epithermal polymetallic carbonate-replacement deposit
• Total tenement package of 6,594 hectares
• 50 km to Juliaca, and 204 km to Arequipa, both with daily flight connections to Lima
• Located 6 km from the town Santa Lucia, with rail access to the port of Matarani
Historic 2018 JORC Mineral Resource (see below for details and cautionary statements)
• Containing:
− Silver: 98 Moz in Measured & Indicated, and an additional 28 Moz in Inferred
− Copper: 624 Mlb of in Measured & Indicated, and an additional 147 Mlb in Inferred
Historic 2018 Scoping Study (see below for details and cautionary statements)
• Open pit mining, low strip 0.96, with a mine life of 12 years at 2 million tonnes per year
• Mining inventory (Measured & Indicated) of 21.8 Mt @ 111 g/t Silver, 0.98% Copper & 7.6%
Manganese
• Conventional processing flow sheet with annual average production:
− 4.85 Moz of Silver in doré;
− 13,883 tonnes of Copper in cathode;
− 96,087 tonnes of Manganese in MgSO4 mono-hydrate; and
− 5,098 tonnes of Zinc in cathode;
Transaction Summary
Aftermath Silver and SSRM have agreed to a total consideration of US$13,000,000 made in staged
cash payments, C$3,000,000 in Aftermath Silver common shares, and a sliding scale net smelter
returns royalty (“NSR”), as follows:
a. US$1,000,000 deposit, to be paid withing 48 hours of signing the LOI [(paid)];
b. US$1,000,000 cash on the closing date of the proposed transaction and C$3,000,000 in
Aftermath common shares, using the volume weighted average share price five (5) trading
days prior to the date of signing the acquisition agreement , capped a maximum 9.9% of
Aftermath’s issued and outstanding shares, with the remainder, if any, to be paid in cash;
c. US$2,250,000 cash to be paid on the 12-month anniversary date of closing;
d. US$2,500,000 cash to be paid on the 24-month anniversary date of closing;
e. US$3,000,000 cash to be paid on the 48-month anniversary date of closing;
f. Completion of a Preliminary Feasibility Study (“PFS”) and filing on SEDAR of a NI 43 -101
technical report summarising the PFS, within 48 months of the anniversary date of closing;
g. US$3,250,000 cash to be paid on the 72-month anniversary date of closing;
h. A sliding scale net smelter returns royalty (“ NSR”) on all mineral production from the
Berenguela Project for the life of mine commencing at the declaration of commercial
production, based on the following:
i. 1.0% NSR, on all mineral production when the Silver Market Price is up to and including
US$25/ounce; and
ii. 1.25% NSR on all mineral production when the Silver Market Price is over US$25/ounce
and when the Copper Market Price is above $2.00/lb.
Closing of the acquisition is subject to Aftermath Silver and SSRM having executed and delivered
the acquisition agreement, SSRM having reacquired a 100% direct and indirect interest in
SOMINBESA, the owner of the Project, from Valor Resources Limited (“Valor”), the approval of
the TSX Venture Exchange and certain other customary closing conditions.
Ralph Rushton, President and CEO of the Company, commented “ The Berenguela acquisition
perfectly matches our corporate strategy of acquiring de -risked assets with immediate value
creation for our shareholders. When the Berenguela acquisition is complete, Aftermath Silver will
have assembled one of the largest portfolios of silver development assets. Combined with the
organic growth we hope to achieve at Challacollo, we believe it positions Aftermath as one of the
preeminent silver development companies.”
About the Berenguela Silver-Copper Deposit
Berenguela is located in the Department Puno, in Southern Peru , between 4150 and 4280 meters
above sea level in the Western Cordillera of southern Peru. It is located 6 km north-east of the closest
community of Santa Lucia, the nearest town. Berenguela is close to regional centres at Juliaca (1.5
hours drive) and Arequipa (2.5 hours drive), these cities have daily flights from Lima. A railway
loading station is located at Santa Lucia, connecting to the port of Ma tarani on the Pacific coast.
Santa Lucia is connected to the national grid at 220 Volts.
Figure 1. Berenguela Location Map
Small scale production from surface pits and underground occurred in the early 1906 through to
1958, for a total of approximately 500,000 tonnes . ASARCO optioned the project in 1965
undertaking the first large scale investigations. Several companies subsequently performed drilling
and bulk sampling for metallurgical test work. SSRM (then Silver Standard) optioned the Project in
2004. Between 2004 and 2005, SSRM undertook 222 RC holes, metallurgical test work and produced
a NI 43-101 technical report on the Mineral Resource in October 2005 to complete 100% ownership.
Subsequently, SSRM drilled 28 diamond holes between 2010 and 2015. SSRM optioned the property
in 2017 to ASX-listed Valor Resources Limited (“Valor”), who completed 69 RC holes in 2017. In
April 2020, SSRM and Valor entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Valor has agreed
to return to SSRM a 100% direct and indirect interest in SOMINBESA, the owner of the Project. A
total 318 drill holes have been drilled between 2004 and 2017 for a total of 34,796 metres.
Berenguela is an epithermal polymetallic carbonate -replacement deposit. The mineralisation is
present from surface to a depth of about 100 m. The deposit has a known strike length of 1.4 km and
is 200 to 300 m wide, 30 to 100 m thick.
Stockwork bodies of manganese oxides (magnetic) are hosted within folded and faulted carbonates,
and include massive flat lying lenses. It is interpreted that manganese oxides have replaced the
dolomitic limestones in areas that have been structurally prepared through folding and faulting
associated with NWN striking folds.
Associated with the manganese oxide body is an irregular cross cutting network of quartz veins.
These veins contain the copper and silver minerals; malachite, azurite, covellite, cha lcopyrite,
chrysocolla, pyrite, acanthite, and small quantities of native silver.
In January 2018, the previous operator reported a Mineral Resource Estimate under the Joint Ore
Reserves Committee (“JORC”) 2012 guideline for Berenguela.
The Company cautio ns that an independent Qualified Person (“QP”), as defined in National
Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43 -101”), has not yet completed sufficient work on behalf of Aftermath
Silver to classify the estimate as a current Measured, Indicated or Inferred Mineral Resource, and
Aftermath Silver is not treating the historical estimate as a current Mineral Resource. Aftermath
Silver will need to validate previous work to produce a mineral resource that is current for CIM
purposes. Details of the historic Mineral Resource are found in Table 1.
Table 1. Historic 2018 Mineral Resource Estimate for the Berenguela Silver-Copper Project
Classification Tonnes
(Mt)
Silver
(g/t)
Copper
(%)
Mang-
anese
(%)
Zinc
(%)
Silver
(Koz)
Copper
(Klb)
Measured 7.71 104 0.99 8.68 0.34 25,717 168,040
Indicated 28.2 80 0.73 5.16 0.30 73,009 456,465
Measured +
Indicated 35.9 85 0.79 5.91 0.30 98,725 624,505
Inferred 9.97 88 0.67 2.14 0.20 28,183 147,242
Notes on the Historic Mineral Resource Estimate
1. JORC-2012 definitions were followed for Mineral Resources.
2. Mineral Resources were estimated by P.Geo. Marcelo Batelochi, AusIMM Competent Person.
3. Grades are estimated by the Ordinary Kriging interpolation method using capped composite samples.
4. Bulk density has been estimated by Nearest Neighbour method and the average value is 2.82g/cm3.
5. The historic mineral resource uses a copper equivalent cut off of 0.5%, copper equivalents (“CuEq”)
were based on the formula CuEq (%) = Cu (%) + ((Ag (g/t) / 10000) in ounces x Ag price x silver
recovery) / (Cu price x Cu recovery) + (Zn% x Zn price x Zn recovery) / (Cu price x Cu recovery).
Assuming: Ag price $16.795/oz and Zn $3,150/t and recoveries of Ag 50%, Cu 85% and Zn 80%. Mn
grades are not considered for CuEq calculations.
6. Numbers may not add/multiply due to rounding.
Historic Scoping Study Summary
The previous operator undertook a scoping study on Berenguela (Salva Mining, May, 2018) to a
quoted level of accuracy of ±35%. A summary of the scoping study economic highlights follows,
the results have not been verified by the Company and the reader is cautio ned not to rely on the
economic results below:
• Open pit mining inventory (of historic Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource) of:
− 21.8Mt @ 111 g/t Silver, 0.98% Copper & 7.6% Manganese at a 1% CuEq cut off
• Conventional processing flow sheet:
− crushing, dry grind and magnetic pre-concentration;
− solvent extraction and electrowinning of Copper and manganese; and
− cyanide leaching and Merrill-Crowe precipitation of Silver doré
• Mine life 12 years at 2 Million tonnes per year using open pit methods
• Metal price assumptions: $19.10/oz Silver, $3.22/lb Copper, $500/t Manganese sulphate
& $1.07 /lb Zinc
• Average overall metallurgical recoveries: 67.9% Silver, 70.8% Copper, 63.2% Manganese
& 69.4% Zinc
• Average annual metal production of: 4.85 Moz of Silver, 13,883 tonnes of Copper, 96,087
tonnes of Manganese in MgSO4 mono-hydrate and 5,098 tonnes of Zinc
• Preproduction capital of US$260.3M, includes working capital, EPCM, owner’s costs and
30% contingency
• Life of mine sustaining capital of $85.2M, including closure costs
• Average operating cost US$52.62/t run of mine, all -in sustaining cash cost includes
royalties
• Cumulative free cash flow $1,658M
• Pre-Tax NPV (8%) $815M and IRR 49%
• After Tax NPV (8%) $564M and IRR 35%
Aftermath Silver’s Immediate Plans
Upon closing of the proposed transaction, Aftermath will immediately commence a detailed review
of the historic scoping study and define the scope of a Pre-feasibility study for Berenguela. This
will involve upgrading of any Inferred Mineral Resource into Indicated Mineral Resources, the
twinning of historic drill holes, acquiring fresh metallurgical samples, mine and civil geotechnical
investigations and hydrology studies.
Aftermath Silver will also review the significant exploration potential around Berenguela and will
drill test the most prospective targets.
Finders Fees
Finders fees commensurate with TSX-V policies will be payable to Elysium Mining Ltd (“Elysium”)
in cash and shares, Elysium is a company in the business of identifying mineral project acquisitions.
About Aftermath Silver Ltd
Aftermath Silver Ltd is a Canadian junior exploration company focused on silver, and aims to
deliver shareholder value through the discovery , acquisition and development of quality silver
projects in stable jurisdictions. Aftermath has developed a pipeline of projects at various stages of
advancement.
• Cachinal Silver-Gold project. The company currently owns 80% of the Cachinal Silver-
Gold project, with an option to acquire the remaining 20% from SSR M. Cachinal has a
historic Mineral Resource as shown in Table 2.
• Challacollo Silver -Gold project. In addition, the Company has an option to acquire a
100% interest in the Challacollo Silver-Gold project, located near Iquique, Region I, Chile.
Challacollo has a historic Mineral Resource as shown in Table 2. Aftermath Silver’s focus
on Challacollo is to define a Mineral Resource in the hangingwall and footwall of the
existing historic Mineral Resource, summarised in Table 3.
Table 2. Historic Mineral Resource* Summary for the Cachinal Silver-Gold Project
Classification Tonnes
(Mt)
Silver
(g/t)
Gold
(g/t)
Silver
(Moz)
Gold
(Koz)
Indicated 5.66 101 0.13 18.41 24.03
Inferred 0.82 115 0.12 3.02 3.26
* Please see cautionary note below about Cachinal Historic Mineral Resources.
Table 3. Historic Mineral Resource* Summary for the Challacollo Silver-Gold Project
Classification Tonnes
(Mt)
Silver
(g/t)
Gold
(g/t)
Silver
(Moz)
Gold
(Koz)
Indicated 4.7 200 0.32 30.2 48.4
Inferred 1.6 134 0.31 6.9 15.9
* Please see cautionary note below about Challacollo Historic Mineral Resources.
Qualified Person
Peter Voulgaris, MAIG, MAusIMM, a consultant to the Company, is a non-independent qualified
person as defined by NI 43 -101. Mr. Voulgaris has reviewed the technical content of this news
release, and consents to the information provided in the form and context in which it appears.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Ralph Rushton”
Ralph Rushton
CEO and Director
604-484-7855
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain of the statements and information in this news release constitute “forward -looking information”
within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that
express or involve discussions with respect to interpretation of exploration programs and drill results,
predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or
performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “expects”, “is expected”,
“anticipates”, “believes”, “plans”, “projects”, “estimates”, “assumes”, “intends”, “strategies”,
“targets”, “goals”, “forecasts”, “objectives”, “budgets”, “schedules”, “potential” or variations thereof
or stating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “ could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken,
occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of
historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information.
These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual
results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward‐looking statements. Although
the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward‐looking statem ents are based on
reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or
developments may differ materially from those in the forward‐looking statements. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in forward‐looking statements include, but are not limited to,
changes in commodities prices; changes in expected mineral production performance; unexpected increases
in capital costs; exploitation and exploration results; continued avail ability of capital and financing;
differing results and recommendations in the Feasibility Study; and general economic, market or business
conditions. In addition, forward‐looking statements are subject to various risks, including but not limited to
operational risk; political risk; currency risk; capital cost inflation risk; that data is incomplete or
inaccurate. The reader is referred to the Company’s filings with the Canadian securities regulators for
disclosure regarding these and other risk factors , accessible through Aftermath Silver’s profile at
www.sedar.com.
There is no certainty that any forward‐looking statement will come to pass and investors should not place
undue reliance upon forward‐looking statements. The Company does not undertake to provid e updates to
any of the forward‐looking statements in this release, except as required by law.
Cautionary Note about Cachinal Historic Mineral Resources
This News Release quotes an Historic Mineral Resource for Cachinal. Please note, an independent
“Qualified Person”, as defined in National Instrument 43 -101 (“NI 43 -101”), has not yet completed
sufficient work on behalf of Aftermath to classify the historical estimate as a current Indicated or Inferred
Mineral Resource, and Aftermath is not treating the historical estimate as a current Mineral Resource. For
full details of the Cachinal Historic Mineral Resource please see the For full details of the Cachinal Historic
Mineral Resource please see the NI 43-101 Technical Report dated February 9, 2010, with an effective date
of April 30, 2008, titled “Mineral Resource Estimation, Cachinal Silver -Zinc-Gold Project, Region II,
Chile” QP's Cole, G., Couture, J. -F., and Keller, G.D. of SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. Prepared for
Apogee Minerals Ltd., now available on the Halo Labs Inc. SEDAR profile.
Cautionary Note about Challacollo Historic Mineral Resources
This News Release quotes an Historic Mineral Resource for Challacollo. Please note, an independent
“Qualified Person”, as def ined in National Instrument 43 -101 (“NI 43 -101”), has not yet completed
sufficient work on behalf of Aftermath to classify the historical estimate as a current Indicated or Inferred
Mineral Resource, and Aftermath is not treating the historical estimate as a current Mineral Resource. For
full details of the Challacollo Historic Mineral Resource please see the NI 43-101 Technical Report dated
March 31, 2015, with an effective date of December 31, 2014 titled “NI 43 -101 Technical Report for the
Challacollo Silver Project, Region 1, Chile” QPs Mroczek, M., Collins, M. and Butler, S. of Mining Plus
Canada Consulting Ltd. and Tapia, J.C., of Sedgman S.A. Prepared for Mandalay Resources, available on
the Mandalay Resources SEDAR profile.
Cautionary Note to US Investors - Mineral Resources
This News Release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian National
Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (''NI 43-101'') and the Canadian Institute
of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Definition Standards, which differ f rom the requirements of U.S.
securities laws. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes
standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning
mineral projects. Canadian public disclosure standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the
requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and information
concerning mineralization, deposits, mineral reserve and resource inf ormation contained or referred to
herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies.