Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE-A, TSX: IE) is teaming up with lithium miner Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE: SQM) to explore for copper on parts of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
The companies are deploying Ivanhoe’s Typhoon geophysical surveying system to search for copper deposits on 2,000 sq. km of SQM mining concessions. The properties lie on porphyry copper and polymetallic manto belts near some of the largest copper mines in the world, but caliche, a surface deposit of sediments, often blocks traditional detection systems, Ivanhoe said.
“Chile has supplied the world with copper for generations,” Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe Electric’s executive chairman, said in a release on Tuesday. “As demand accelerates, we believe the next wave of world-class copper discoveries will be found hidden beneath these large areas of caliche.”
SQM is funding $9 million for three years of exploration which also uses Computational Geosciences Inc.’s data inversion software. Any discoveries of more 1 million tonnes in copper or copper-equivalent ore could lead to a 50/50 joint venture.
Electrical charge
According to Ivanhoe, its Typhoon technology can generate a powerful, clean electrical charge that can penetrate the highly resistive caliche cover to detect potential copper deposits at depth.
To unearth the copper mineralization, Friedland emphasized the power of the company’s Typhoon platform as well as the CGI technology, stating that they’re “uniquely capable of seeing through that cover to illuminate what other technologies cannot.”
SQM already produces potassium nitrate and iodine from the area. Following any future development decisions, SQM has the option to operate a resultant joint venture provided it holds at least 50% of the equity.
Shares of Ivanhoe Electric gained 3% to close at $26.26 apiece on Tuesday for a market capitalization to $2.86 billion in New York. SQM’s shares added 0.3% before declining 2.5% on Wednesday morning to $82.28, valuing the company at $2.92 billin.
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