Candente hits porphyry copper

Vancouver — Candente Resource (DNT-V) has intersected what appears to be a major porphyry copper zone on its Caariaco project in northern Peru.

The junior has completed a 12-hole, 2,500-metre drilling program, and results from the first two holes are encouraging. Holes 1 and 2 were drilled vertically, 100 metres apart, and to a depth of 300 and 248 metres, respectively. Hole 1 intersected 0.71% copper over 234 metres from a down-hole depth of 66 metres, including 96 metres of 1% copper from the top of the interval. Hole 2 cut 0.68% copper over 188 metres at 60 metres down-hole, including 42 metres of 0.8% copper.

The main copper minerals in the core are chalcocite, chalcopyrite, covellite and bornite, and Candente says the mineralization and grades are consistent with those seen in large porphyry copper systems.

Situated 700 km northwest of Lima, Caariaco comprises 55 sq. km. Candente acquired four concessions through public auction from the government in early 2001 and has since applied for two more.

The British Geological Survey and its Peruvian counterpart discovered copper on the property during stream sediment sampling in 1970.

The Caariaco system is in a belt of Oligocene to Miocene porphyry copper deposits, which extend 350 km from Cajamarca northwest to the Ecuadorian border. The property is underlain by andesite to dacite volcanics and tuffs of the Calipuy group, which were intruded by a series of porphyry stocks and dykes.

Three porphyry centres — Caariaco Norte, Caariaco Sur and Quebrada Verde — have been mapped and sampled by Candente, and by various other operators. Placer Dome (PDG-T) optioned Caariaco and a nearby silver-gold prospect in 1994, then walked away in 1997 after doing trenching and drilling. Billiton, now part of BHP Billiton, did likewise in 2000.

Previous exploration showed that the property has widespread, potentially economic zones of copper mineralization. The estimated historical resource ranges from 300 to 400 million tonnes grading 0.5% copper.

“The mineralization in the Caariaco Norte zone appears to be amenable to low-cost, open-pit mining followed by heap-leaching and solvent extraction-electrowinning,” states a technical report commissioned by Candente.

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