Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. (“Cornerstone” or “the
Company”) (TSXV:CGP) (Frankfurt:GWN1) (Berlin:GWN1)
(OTC:CTNXF) is pleased to announce the following update on
the status of the Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) on the Alpala Project
at its Cascabel copper-gold porphyry joint venture project in
northern Ecuador (the “Project”) in which Cornerstone has a 15%
interest1 financed through to completion of a feasibility
study plus 7.5% of the shares of joint venture partner and Project
operator SolGold Plc, for a total direct and indirect interest in
Cascabel of 21.4%.
The Alpala Project Team and the Project
Committee, chaired by Interim CEO Keith Marshall, are making good
progress studying potential Alpala mine plans while addressing a
number of mine development and metallurgical enhancements as well
as potential upsides, and are continuing to target the release of
the PFS in late 2021.
The Alpala deposit comprises 2,663 Mt at 0.53%
CuEq in the Measured plus Indicated categories and contained metal
content of 9.9 Mt Cu, 21.7 Moz Au and 92.2 Moz Ag.2 The deposit
measures approximately 900m in height and 500m diameter. Given the
size and geometry of the deposit, the Company is quite optimistic
that the PFS will demonstrate that it is amenable to underground
caving mining methods.
The Company is confident that this revised
approach being studied from that which was previously considered is
much more beneficial for Cornerstone and SolGold and will deliver
significant shareholder value. SolGold is currently expanding its
team of experienced technical staff, with the first, Ms. Lisa Park,
Head of Metallurgy, having officially joined in recent days.
Key considerations that suggest the superiority
of the revised approach currently being studied for the development
of the Project include:
- much earlier access to the resource
with shortest time to potential first production;
- a more selective mining approach,
without sterilizing the remaining resource, reducing dilution
without compromising metal extraction;
- optimal size and orientation of an
underground footprint with the potential for two extraction levels
to minimize dilution and upfront development Capex; and
- mining of higher head grades in the
earlier years of potential production.
The Company is optimistic that the revised mine
plan currently being studied as part of the PFS process could
deliver similar metal production while mining significantly less
material. This could result in potentially significant cost
savings. The crushing, processing and waste storage requirements
are also expected to be reduced accordingly as would, in this
potential scenario, the upfront capex associated with these
installations.
Anticipated benefits of the revised approach
being studied include lower expected execution risks, lower
expected pre-production capital and significantly reduced time to
first potential production.
SolGold is also investigating options that could
provide further upside to the value of the Project including:
- near-surface, open pittable mining options at and near the
Alpala deposit; hydroelectric power options to reduce power
costs;
- further metallurgical testing to increase copper, gold and
silver recoveries; and
- electrification of underground production mobile plant, thereby
reducing requirements for fuel, emission control and ventilation
with additional likely reductions in capital expenditure and
operating costs.
A number of proof-of-concept level studies on
these options have been initiated beginning with geotechnical and
mining options. These are being followed with more detailed studies
and are expected to be included in the designs for downstream
processes and infrastructure. These studies are on track for the
delivery of the PFS in late 2021.
The Company is of the view that the Alpala
resource is one of the most significant copper-gold porphyry
discoveries of the last decade. It has the potential to become a
key source of future copper supply amid an expected growing
medium-term market deficit, reflecting limited new project
development, a declining base production and growing demand
supported by the shift towards electrification and
decarbonization. SolGold and Cornerstone plan to provide
further progress updates as the revised PFS advances during the
remainder of the year.
Commenting on today’s PFS update, SolGold
Interim CEO, Keith Marshall, said:
“The revised mine plan being studied underpins
the whole of the Alpala Project. The plan being studied is smaller
in scale initially, but a much more selective and simpler approach
to mining the deposit. In my view, the big advantages of
underground mining over open pit mining are sequencing and
selectivity. With underground mining you can target which areas of
the orebody you want to mine and when. The previously studied plan
was the equivalent of an inverted open pit, with limited
selectivity, that would likely have resulted in the mining of
larger volumes of waste material.
We are now studying a plan that would introduce
an upper extraction level that may offer earlier access to high
grade material. We are also considering dual access, through shafts
and a decline which might be developed from both ends concurrently.
Through the study of the revised approach, we are hopeful of
arriving at a plan that will not sterilize any of the resource,
furthering SolGold’s goal of developing the resource with a view to
the interests of all stakeholders, particularly Ecuador.
I am very encouraged with the progress of the
study of this revised approach and I am confident that it should
offer a robust but flexible solution to the development of a mine
at Alpala.”
Qualified Person
Yvan Crepeau, MBA, P.Geo., Cornerstone's Vice
President, Exploration and a qualified person in accordance with
National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for supervising the
exploration program at the Cascabel project for Cornerstone and has
reviewed and approved the information contained in this news
release.
About Cornerstone
Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. is a mineral
exploration company with a diversified portfolio of projects in
Ecuador and Chile, including the Cascabel gold-enriched copper
porphyry joint venture in northwest Ecuador. Cornerstone has a
21.4% direct and indirect interest in Cascabel comprised of (i) a
direct 15% interest in the project financed through to completion
of a feasibility study and repayable at Libor plus 2% out of 90% of
its share of the earnings or dividends from an operation at
Cascabel, plus (ii) an indirect interest comprised of 7.5% of the
shares of joint venture partner and project operator SolGold Plc.
Exploraciones Novomining S.A. (“ENSA”), an Ecuadoran company owned
by SolGold and Cornerstone, holds 100% of the Cascabel concession.
Subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including
SolGold’s fully funding the project through to feasibility, SolGold
Plc will own 85% of the equity of ENSA and Cornerstone will own the
remaining 15% of ENSA.
Further information is available on
Cornerstone’s website: www.cornerstoneresources.com and on
Twitter. For investor, corporate or media inquiries, please contact
ir@cornerstoneresources.ca, or:
Investor Relations: Mario Drolet; Email: Mario@mi3.ca; Tel.
(514) 904-1333
Due to anti-spam laws, many shareholders and
others who were previously signed up to receive email updates and
who are no longer receiving them may need to re-subscribe
at http://www.cornerstoneresources.com.
Cautionary Notice:This news
release may contain ‘Forward-Looking Statements’ that involve risks
and uncertainties, such as statements of Cornerstone’s beliefs,
plans, objectives, strategies, intentions and expectations. The
words “potential,” “anticipate,” “forecast,” “believe,” “estimate,”
“intend”, “trends”, “indicate”, “expect,” “may,” “should,” “could”,
“project,” “plan,” or the negative or other variations of these
words and similar expressions are intended to be among the
statements that identify ‘Forward-Looking Statements.’ Although
Cornerstone believes that its expectations reflected in these
‘Forward-Looking Statements’ are reasonable, such statements may
involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed in
our regulatory filings, viewed on the SEDAR website at
www.sedar.com. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of
financial and metals markets, predicting natural geological
phenomena and from numerous other matters of national, regional,
and global scale, including those of an environmental, climatic,
natural, political, economic, business, competitive, or regulatory
nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to
be materially different than those expressed in our Forward-Looking
Statements. Although Cornerstone believes the facts and information
contained in this news release to be as correct and current as
possible, Cornerstone does not warrant or make any representation
as to the accuracy, validity or completeness of any facts or
information contained herein and these statements should not be
relied upon as representing its views after the date of this news
release. While Cornerstone anticipates that subsequent events may
cause its views to change, it expressly disclaims any obligation to
update the Forward-Looking Statements contained herein except where
outcomes have varied materially from the original statements.
On Behalf of the Board, Brooke MacdonaldPresident and CEO
Neither 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 release.
_______________1 See “About Cornerstone”
below.
2 See “Cascabel Property NI 43-101 Technical Report, Alpala
Porphyry Copper-Gold-Silver Deposit - Mineral Resource Estimation,
January 2021” with an Effective date: 18 March 2020 and Amended
Date: 15 January 2021 (the “Amended Technical Report”), filed
at www.Sedar.com on January 29, 2021:
https://cornerstoneresources.com/site/assets/files/5574/2101_cascabel_mre3.pdf
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