China smelter group agrees to lower Q1 copper charges
The charges tend to fall when ore supply declines and rise when more concentrate is available.
Cordoba Minerals (TSXV: CDB) said on Friday it has secured a $10 million bridge loan from JCHX Mining Management to help advance its Alacran copper-gold silver project in Colombia, including a detailed engineering design work program.
The Alacran project is pegged as the Colombia’s next major copper-gold mine. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2025, subject to financing. The Colombian National Mining Agency has already approved the open pit mine’s technical work plan.
JCHX , a China-based mining construction company, is currently a joint venture partner on the project, having acquired a 50% stake in December 2022 for $100 million in milestone-based payments. To date, Cordoba has received $80 million, with the remaining $20 million contingent on approval of the project’s environmental impact assessment.
Alacran is part of the larger San Matias property located in the municipality of Puerto Libertador, department of Córdoba. It is the most advanced deposit on the property, with a feasibility study outlining a potential 14-year mine that would produce a total of 797.2 million lb. of copper, 550,000 oz. of gold and 5.35 million oz. of silver during that span.
According to the FS published late in 2023, Alacran has an after-tax net present value (at 8% discount) of $360 million and internal rate of return of 23.8%, representing a 3-year payback. Initial capital expenditures to build the open pit mine are estimated at $420.4 million.
“With the support from our joint venture partner, JCHX, the Alacran project continues to moving forward with our targeted timeline,” commented Sarah Armstrong-Montoya, CEO of Cordoba, in Friday’s press release. “With a shared vision with our partner, the Alacran project is steadily advancing to be the next copper mine in Colombia in the near future.”
Copper developer Ivanhoe Electric (TSX: IE), as a majority shareholder of Cordoba, is also backing the Alacran project.
In addition to Alacran, Cordoba’s 200-sq.-km land package in Colombia also hosts several known areas of porphyry copper-gold and carbonate replacement deposit mineralization. These include the Montiel East, Montiel West and Costa Azul satellite deposits, which were excluded from the FS.
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