Corriente gets positive feasibility

Vancouver — Corriente Resources (CTQ-T) is encouraged by the results of a feasibility study at its Mirador copper-gold project in southeastern Ecuador.

AMEC Americas reviewed a 25,000-tonne-per-day open-pit operation with an indicated resource of 111 million tonnes grading 0.67% copper and 0.22 gram gold per tonne. The estimates are based on a cutoff grade of 0.4% copper.

The study calls for production of 58,000 tonnes (128 million lbs.) copper, 32,000 oz. gold, and 395,000 oz. silver annually over the first five years of an a 12-year mine life.

Capital costs are pegged at US$204 million, and the project carries a pretax internal rate of return (IRR) of 15.5% and a net present value (NPV) of US$78 million, assuming a copper price of US$1 per lb. At US$1.45 per lb., the IRR rises to 40% and the NPV, to US$419 million. The stripping ratio is expected to be 0.8:1.

Corriente plans to amend its feasibility study to examine the potential for tripling the initial ore processing rate to 75,000 tonnes per day.

Infill drilling is upgrading inferred resources, which are classified as waste in the current mining model. Concurrent geotechnical studies are aimed at steepening the pit walls in order to reduce the amount of waste rock mined. Just over a third of Mirador’s total indicated resource of 310 million tonnes grading 0.65% copper and 0.2 gram gold has been incorporated in the mining plan.

Corriente posts a market capitalization of $100 million based on 45.4 million shares outstanding. The stock traded down about 10%, at $2.30, on the release of the feasibility study.