This news release has been submitted by Andrew Elinesky, Vice President - Argentina, for the Company.
About Los Azules
Los Azules is a large undeveloped copper porphyry system located in western San Juan Province within a belt of porphyry copper deposits that straddles the Chilean/Argentine border. This belt contains some of the world's largest copper deposits, including Codelco's El Teniente and Andina mines, Anglo American's Los Bronces mine, Antofagasta PLC's Los Pelambres mine and Xstrata's El Pachon project, among others. Los Azules is one of the world's largest, highest grade, undeveloped copper-porphyry deposits not owned by a major base metal company.
Table 2. Los Azules Mineral Resource Estimate
In order to exhibit reasonable prospects for economic viability, the mineral resource estimate has been contained within a conceptual open pit shell generated using general technical and economic parameters that are defined at the end of this news release. The base case cut-off grade of 0.35% Cu is highlighted in the table.
============================================================================ Au Ag Grade Grade Tonnage Cu (grams (gramsCut-off Grade (million Grade Cu lbs per Au Oz per Ag Oz (Cu%) tonnes) (%) (billions) tonne) (millions) tonne) (millions)----------------------------------------------------------------------------Indicated Resource---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.15 414 0.55 5.04 0.06 0.83 1.8 23.6---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.20 397 0.57 4.97 0.06 0.80 1.8 22.6---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.25 369 0.59 4.84 0.06 0.76 1.8 21.1---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.30 338 0.62 4.65 0.07 0.72 1.8 19.6---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.35 310 0.65 4.45 0.07 0.68 1.8 18.3---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.40 283 0.68 4.22 0.07 0.63 1.9 16.9---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.45 254 0.71 3.95 0.07 0.57 1.9 15.4---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.50 225 0.74 3.64 0.07 0.52 1.9 13.8---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.55 195 0.77 3.30 0.07 0.46 1.9 12.1---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.60 165 0.80 2.92 0.07 0.40 1.9 10.2---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.65 134 0.85 2.49 0.08 0.33 1.9 8.2---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.70 105 0.89 2.07 0.08 0.26 1.9 6.5----------------------------------------------------------------------------Inferred Resource---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.15 3,378 0.34 25.33 0.04 4.84 1.7 181.4---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.20 2,890 0.37 23.44 0.05 4.35 1.7 159.8---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.25 2,318 0.40 20.61 0.05 3.71 1.8 134.9---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.30 1,774 0.44 17.32 0.05 3.01 1.9 108.9---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.35 1,302 0.49 13.95 0.06 2.34 2.0 83.3---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.40 914 0.53 10.76 0.06 1.72 2.1 60.8---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.45 622 0.59 8.03 0.06 1.21 2.1 42.8---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.50 422 0.64 5.96 0.06 0.85 2.2 29.7---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.55 290 0.69 4.43 0.06 0.60 2.2 20.6---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.60 201 0.75 3.31 0.07 0.42 2.3 14.5---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.65 143 0.80 2.51 0.07 0.31 2.3 10.5---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.70 103 0.84 1.91 0.07 0.22 2.3 7.6============================================================================(i) "Tonnes" is stated in metric and is equivalent to 2205 lbs.(ii) Estimated contained metal values may be subject to rounding errors.
