Panoro Minerals Announces the Sale of Antilla Copper Project for Cash and Royalty
Panoro Minerals Announces the Sale of Antilla
Copper Project for Cash and Royalty
VANCOUVER, BC
,
Oct. 12, 2021
/CNW/ -
Panoro Minerals Ltd
. (TSXV: PML) (Lima: PML)
(Frankfurt: PZM) (OTCQB: POROF) ("Panoro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the sale
of its Antilla Project to Heeney Capital Acquisition Company Inc. ("HCAC"), a mineral exploration and
development company. Panoro has agreed to sell 90% of the shares of
Antilla Copper S.A.
("Antilla"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Panoro, which holds the Antilla Project, in consideration for
advanced payments of up to 13% of the Net Present Value of the Antilla Project plus a Net Smelter
Return royalty ("NSR") of 1% (on top of the 2% NSR that the Company already owns on the Antilla
Property). The advanced payments will be staged and HCAC will initially earn a 75% interest in
Antilla on closing plus an additional 15% 12 months after the earlier of drilling permits being obtained
or a pre-feasibility or feasibility study being completed on the Antilla Project (a "Study"), for a total
90% interest. The Company and HCAC will contribute their pro-rata portion of all exploration and
development expenditures.
Pending the results of the Study, the total of the advanced payments could be between
C$ 20 million
and
C$ 70 million
, plus the aggregate up to the 3% NSR over the life of the mine.
Advance payments
to Panoro will include both scheduled and contingent payments for HCAC to
earn in a 90% interest in stages as outlined below:
Scheduled Payments of:
C$ 10 million
on closing of the transaction,
C$ 2.8 million
10 months from closing,
C$ 7 million
12 months after the earlier of drilling permits being obtained or a Study being
completed.
Contingent Payments of:
C$ 10 million
if the Study estimates the Net Present Value at an 8% discount rate (NPV
8
)
of the Antilla Project to be above
US$ 310 million
; or
Up to
C$ 50 million
if the Study estimates the NPV
8
to be above
US$ 360 million
Including the contingent payments, which will be received within 12 months of the completion of the
Study, the total advance payments could equal up to
C$ 70 million
(or approximately 13% of NPV
8
).
Net Smelter Return royalty
payments
to Panoro over the life of the Antilla Project will include:
an existing 2% NSR; plus
if Panoro's ownership in Antilla is diluted to below 5%, it's ownership interest will automatically
convert to an additional 1% NSR
Total 3% NSR, subject to a buyback right for the 1% NSR for
C$ 4 million
The range of potential payments from this transaction are summarized in the table below.
Antilla Project NPV
1
(million US$)
Total Advance Payments
(Scheduled and Contingent)
(million C$)
NSR
(%)
up to 310
20 to 24
2% to 3%
310 to 360
30 to 34
2% to 3%
above 360
up to 74
2% to 3%
1. To be estimated in the Study at a 8% discount rate at long-term street consensus pricing
The Antilla Project's preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") was completed in 2018 estimating an
after tax NPV of
C$ 516.1 million
(
US$ 397 million
) at a long-term copper price of
US$ 3.25
/lb and a
7.5% discount rate. For comparative purposes, at copper prices of between
US$ 3.25
/lb and
US$
4.00
/lb, a discount rate of 8% and factoring in an aggregate 3% NSR, the estimated payments from
the sale of the Antilla are shown in the table below.
Long-term Cu Prices
(US$/lb)
Total Advance Payments
1,2
(million C$)
NSR
(%)
3.25
56 to 60
2% to 3%
3.50
70 to 74
2% to 3%
4.00
70 to 74
2% to 3%
1.
Based on NPV (US$ 335 million @ US$ 3.25/lb, US$ 426 million @ US$ 3.50/lb, US$ 640 million @ US$ 4.00/lb)
2.
1.30 C$/US$, Factoring for the aggregate 3% NSR
Luquman Shaheen, President & CEO of Panoro Minerals states,
"The Company is very pleased
with the completion of this transaction. Panoro will reinvest the proceeds into the Company's
projects in
Peru
including its flagship Cotabambas Project. The focus at the Cotabambas Project
will be to advance with the work required to support a feasibility study and environmental impact
assessment. Our first priority will be to drill test attractive satellite targets before moving to infill
drilling programs. In parallel, metallurgical testing will look to optimize flotation recoveries and
estimate leach recoveries of the oxide resource. The resource growth potential at the Cotabambas
Project is encouraging, recovery improvements from the transition zone look promising, and the
addition of a heap leach component will add value, which, together with the high copper, gold and
silver commodity prices, present compelling upside to the value of the Cotabambas Project.
Importantly, Panoro will advance the Cotabambas Project while minimizing share dilution and
thereby maximizing our shareholders' exposure to the valuation upside. Furthermore, the
Company's growing royalty package presents additional upside to Panoro shareholders. The
royalty package now includes up to a 3% NSR on the Antilla Project, a 2% NSR on the Kusiorcco
Project and a 5% NSR on the Cochasayhuas Project."
Antilla Project
The Antilla Project PEA estimated production of between 54 and 66 million pounds per year of
payable copper during its first five years of operation and an average of over 46 million pounds per
year over the project's 17 year mine life.
The economic metrics estimated in the PEA are summarized in the Table below
Before Tax
1
After Tax
Copper
Price
(US$/lb)
NPV
5%
(million
US$)
NPV
7.5%
(million
US$)
NPV
10%
(million
US$)
IRR
(%)
Payback
(Years)
NPV
5%
(million
US$)
NPV
7.5%
(million
US$)
NPV
10%
(million
US$)
IRR
(%)
Payback
(Years)
2.75
487
383
301
28.8
2.9
232
169
118
18.7
3.6
3.05
648
520
419
34.7
2.6
394
305
236
25.9
3.0
3.25
755
611
497
38.4
2.5
501
397
314
30.3
2.7
1. Excluding Peru statutory charges ( i.e. profit sharing, regulatory fees, mining royalty, special mining tax, and income tax)
2. The economic results are based on the heap leach tonnages in the selected ultimate pit. The heap leach tonnages include
Inferred Resources. The reader is cautioned that inferred resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the
economic considerations applied to them that would enable categorization as Mineral Reserves. Mineral resources that are not
Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
The PEA includes an open pit mining rate of 20,000 tonnes per day with the crushed ore being
delivered to a valley fill heap leach pad. The proposed processing includes a solvent extraction and
electrowinning (SX/EW) plant. The recovery of copper from the SX/EW plant was estimated to be
72.5% in the PEA. Subsequent to the PEA, column leaching tests completed have estimated
potential recoveries as high as 79.9%.
The Antilla Project includes a resource composed of indicated and inferred resources as follows:
Indicated Resources
of 291.8 million tonnes at 0.34% Cu and 0.01% Mo; and
Inferred Resources
of 90.5 million tonnes at 0.26% Cu and 0.008% Mo.
Resource growth potential identified at the Antilla Project includes:
North Block:
appears to be an extension of the resource zone of between 0.5 to 1.5 km, where
outcroppings of the same mineralization and the same sandstone package
included in the resource estimates has been mapped and sampled. In the North
Block the copper oxides and secondary sulfides outcrop along 2 km in the east-
west direction.
West Block:
located 1 to 3 km to the west of the project resources where 7 drillholes have
been executed in the past intersecting near surface copper mineralization. The
drillholes were completed before an extensive geochemistry survey by Panoro
which identified other drill target areas.
Intermediate Block:
the copper anomalies are aligned by structural control along 2.2 km length in
north-south direction. The target indicates a porphyry stock at surface located
from 200 m to 1 km to the west and southwest of the mineral resources area.
Chabuca Block:
the copper anomalies cover an area of 1.5 by 1.5 km at surface and are located
from 300 m to 2,000 m to the East of the resources. In Chabuca, a porphyry
stock intrudes the same sandstones package hosting the mineralization in the
resources area and in the North Block.
About Panoro
Panoro is a uniquely positioned
Peru
-focused copper exploration and development company. The
Company is advancing its flagship project, the Cotabambas Copper-Gold-Silver Project, and its
Antilla Copper-Molybdenum Projects located in the strategically important area of southern
Peru
.
Panoro has completed strategic partnerships at three of its projects:
1
.
Wheaton Precious Metals - Precious Metals Purchase Agreement, Cotabambas Project;
2
.
Hudbay Minerals – NSR Royalty and Cash sale, Kusiorcco Project; and
3
.
Mintania – NSR Royalty and Cash sale, Cochasayhuas Project.
At the Cotabambas Project, the Company is focused on delineating growth potential while optimizing
project economics. Exploration and step-out drilling from 2017, 2018 and 2019 have identified the
potential for both oxide and sulphide resource growth.
Summary of Cotabambas and Antilla Project Resources
Project
Resource
Classification
Million
Tonnes
Cu (%)
Au (g/t)
Ag (g/t)
Mo (%)
CuEq
%
Cotabambas
1
Cu/Au/Ag
Indicated
117.1
0.42
0.23
2.74
0.001
0.59
Inferred
605.3
0.31
0.17
2.33
0.002
0.44
@ 0.20% CuEq cutoff, effective October 2013, Tetratech
Antilla
2
Cu/Mo
Indicated
291.8
0.34
-
-
0.01
0.38
Inferred
90.5
0.26
-
-
0.007
0.29
@ 0.175% CuEq cutoff, effective May 2016, Tetratech
1.
Cotabambas Project, Apurimac, Peru, NI 43-101 Technical Report on Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment, amec
foster wheeler and Moose Mountain Technical Services, 22 September 2015
2.
Technical Report on the PEA for the Antilla Copper Project Heap Leach SX/EW Operation, Moose Mountain Technical
Services, 11 June 2018.
PEAs have been completed for both the Cotabambas and Antilla Projects, the key results are
summarized below.
Summary of Cotabambas and Antilla Project PEA Results
Key Project Parameters
Cotabambas
Cu/Au/Ag Project
1
Antilla Cu
Project
2
Process Feed, life of mine
million tonnes
483.1
118.7
Process Feed, daily
Tonnes
80,000
20,000
Strip Ratio, life of mine
1.25 : 1
1.38 : 1
Before
Tax
1
NPV
7.5%
million US$
1,053
520
IRR
%
20.4
34.7
Payback
years
3.2
2.6
After
Tax
1
NPV
7.5%
million US$
684
305
IRR
%
16.7
25.9
Payback
years
3.6
3.0
Annual
Average
Payable
Metals
Cu
thousand tonnes
70.5
21.0
Au
thousand ounces
95.1
-
Ag
thousand ounces
1,018.4
-
Mo
thousand tonnes
-
-
Initial Capital Cost
million US$
1,530
250
1.
Project economics estimated at commodity prices of; Cu = US$ 3.00/lb, Au = US$ 1,250/oz, Ag = US$ 18.50/oz, Mo = US$ 12/lb
2.
Project economics estimated at long term commodity price of Cu = US$ 3.05/lb and short term commodity price of Cu = US$
3.20, US$ 3.15 and US$ 3.10 for Years 1, 2 and 3 of operations, respectively.
The PEAs are considered preliminary in nature and include Inferred Mineral Resources that are
considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied that would enable
classification as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the conclusions within the PEAs will be
realized. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic
viability.
Luis Vela
, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the
scientific and technical information in this press release.
On behalf of the Board of
Panoro Minerals Ltd.
Luquman Shaheen. M.B.A., P.Eng, P.E.
President & CEO
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
: Information and statements
contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" within
the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and involve risks and uncertainties.
Examples of forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release include
information and statements with respect to:
closing of the sale of Antilla shares to HCAC;
scheduled and contingent payments by HCAC;
drilling permits for the Antilla Project being obtained;
completion of a Study on the Antilla Project and the NPV estimated in such Study;
potential dilution of Panoro's equity in Antilla below 5%;
advancing the Antilla Project to production;
Panoro weathering the current depressed equity and commodity markets, minimizing dilution to
existing shareholders and making targeted investments into exploration at the Cotabambas
Project;
mineral resource estimates and assumptions;
the PEAs, including, but not limited to, base case parameters and assumptions, forecasts of net
present value, internal rate of return and payback; and
copper concentrate grade from the Cotabambas Project.
Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts
or projections set out in forward-looking information. In some instances, material assumptions and
factors are presented or discussed in this news release in connection with the statements or
disclosure containing the forward-looking information and statements. You are cautioned that the
following list of material factors and assumptions is not exhaustive. The factors and assumptions
include, but are not limited to, assumptions concerning: metal prices and by-product credits; cut-off
grades; short and long term power prices; processing recovery rates; mine plans and production
scheduling; process and infrastructure design and implementation; accuracy of the estimation of
operating and capital costs; applicable tax and royalty rates; open-pit design; accuracy of mineral
reserve and resource estimates and reserve and resource modeling; reliability of sampling and
assay data; representativeness of mineralization; accuracy of metallurgical test work; and
amenability of upgrading and blending mineralization.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation:
risks relating to metal price fluctuations;
risks relating to estimates of mineral resources, production, capital and operating costs,
decommissioning or reclamation expenses, proving to be inaccurate;
the inherent operational risks associated with mining and mineral exploration, development, mine
construction and operating activities, many of which are beyond Panoro's control;
risks relating to Panoro's or its partners' ability to enforce legal rights under permits or licenses
or risk that Panoro or its partners will become subject to litigation or arbitration that has an
adverse outcome;
risks relating to Panoro's or its partners' projects being in
Peru
, including political, economic and
regulatory instability;
risks relating to the uncertainty of applications to obtain, extend or renew licenses and permits;
risks relating to potential challenges to Panoro's or its partners' right to explore or develop
projects;
risks relating to mineral resource estimates being based on interpretations and assumptions
which may result in less mineral production under actual circumstances;
risks relating to Panoro's or its partners' operations being subject to environmental and
remediation requirements, which may increase the cost of doing business and restrict
operations;
risks relating to being adversely affected by environmental, safety and regulatory risks, including
increased regulatory burdens or delays and changes of law;
risks relating to inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance;
risks relating to the fact that Panoro's and its partners' properties are not yet in commercial
production;
risks relating to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and tax rates;
risks relating to Panoro's ability to raise funding to continue its exploration, development and
mining activities; and
counterparty risk under Panoro's agreements.
This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the forward-looking information and
statements contained in this news release. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties
materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those described in the forward–looking information. The forward–looking information contained
in this news release is based on beliefs, expectations and opinions as of the date of this news
release. For the reasons set forth above, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking information. Panoro does not undertake to update any forward-looking information
and statements included herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in
the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this r
elease.
SOURCE
Panoro Minerals Ltd.
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For further information:
Panoro Minerals Ltd., Luquman Shaheen, President & CEO, Phone:
604.684.4246, Fax: 604.684.4200, Email: [email protected], Web: www.panoro.com; Renmark
Financial Communications Inc., Scott Logan, Account Manager, Phone: 416.644.2020 /
212.812.7680, Email:
[email protected], Web: www.renmarkfinancial.com
CO: Panoro Minerals Ltd.
CNW 15:12e 12-OCT-21