Is a Third Copper-Silver District Forming in Northwestern South America?
Three small cap resource stocks show substantial promise and potential exploring in elephant country for large-scale, district wide sedimentary copper-silver projects looking very similar to the massive Kupferschiefer deposit in Poland and the deposits of the African Copper Belt in sub-Saharan Africa.
TRIPLE THREAT – MXR, HAN & ARU have discovered early indications of large-scale copper-silver sedimentary mineralization in northwestern South America in order of market cap (smallest to largest):
- Max Resource Corp. (TSXV: MXR $3M market cap) – Cesar Project, Colombia
- Hannan Metals (TSXV: HAN $20M market cap) – San Martin, Peru
- Aurania Resources (TSXV: ARU $120M market cap) – Cutucu, Ecuador and Peru
The Andean Copper Belt with a Silver Lining
Reviewing property location maps, one is struck by the obvious Andean Copper Belt that runs along the mountain ranges of Northwestern South America from Peru north through Ecuador to Colombia. While the focus of exploration is on copper, silver is also important as the massive Kupferschiefer copper-silver deposit in Poland has allowed the miner KGHM Polska Miedz mining company in Poland to become the largest copper producer in Europe and the world’s second largest silver producer.
How are these three projects (Cesar, San Martin, Cutucu) similar to each other and the massive Kupferschiefer?
- Copper-silver sediment-hosted mineralization
- Sedimentary layers containing copper-silver are located near or at the surface.
- Found within three distinct sedimentary basin geological formations
- Located along the Andean copper belt extending from Colombia to Peru along the NW South America
- Associated with the presence and exploration of oil and gas
Project Summaries from respective public sources:
Max Resource Corp. (TSXV: MXR) Market cap: $3,000,000
Project: CESAR – Colombian Andean Belt Cu + Ag (120 sq.km) within CESAR basin adjacent to largest coal mine in South America. Presence of BHP, Anglo, Xstrata, Anglo, Glencore, Chevron, hydro, shipping, rail and airports.
Best results: 24.8% copper+230g/t silver & 5.4% copper + 63g/t silver 40km apart
Definitive target area of 60-km by 10-km. Kupferschiefer geological model. AM NORTH 1.8-km horizon open on strike & down dip with discovery values of 24.8% copper+230g/t silver on 4m x 1m; AM SOUTH collectively 5-km of horizons open on strike & down dip values to 5.4% copper + 63g/t silver, 0.1 to 25m horizon interval. AM NORTH is on trend 40-km NNE of AM SOUTH. Current surface rock chip sampling field work with assays, test-work, and modelling pending. Partnered with major copper producer and university in Krakow, Poland.
Rick Mills on MXR: The second most significant event in the life of a junior resource company (the first is a buy-out or production) comes when its efforts at developing a project are recognized by a major mining company. For Max that moment, after just 7 months into an exploration program on its CESAR copper+silver project, just arrived. On Wednesday, Vancouver-based Max announced it has entered into a collaboration agreement with “one of the world’s leading copper producers”. Assay results and news pending.
Aurania Resources (TSXV: ARU) Market Cap: $120,000,000
Cutucu – Ecuadorian Andean Belt Cu + Ag (2000 sq. km Peru, 400 sq. km Ecuador)
Best results: 6.3% copper + 48g/t silver
Cutucu exploration target area of 23-km in length; Kupferschiefer geological model; Grab samples >1% copper average 4.4%+51g/t silver; Current field work is sampling outcrops and soils; In 2020 staked 400sq.km of sedimentary-hosted copper-silver in Peru between Cutucu and San Martin. (Cutucu also includes advanced Epithermal Au, Cu Porphyry).
Bob Moriarty in 321 Gold article – June 23, 2019
Aurania seems to have turned into one of those bad news/good news stories. Keith hasn’t found the Lost Cities Gold mines. They may have discovered the first Kupferschiefer copper/silver deposit found or at least recognized in the Western Hemisphere. These sediment-hosted systems tend to be very big in lateral extent and rich. Much of the copper for the Bronze Age derived from Kupferschiefer mines in what is now Germany and Poland. Archeological artifacts from smelters and slag heaps indicate production going back as far as 4,000 years ago and written records date from 1199.
Hannan Metals (TSXV: HAN) Market cap: $20,000,000
San Martin – Peruvian Andean Belt Cu + Ag (520 sq. km)
Best results: 2.5% copper & 22g/t silver, and 5.9% copper & 66g/t silver 20km apart
Exploration target area 100-km by 50-km. Kupferschiefer geological model. Sampling: 2.5% copper + 22g/t silver over 3m and 5.9% copper + 66g/t silver over 2m located 20-km apart.
Bob Moriarty on Hannan: Michael Hudson runs it, he’s Australian. I talked to him and I emailed him. I’ve never met him, he seems reasonable. Quinton Hennigh is also with the company as an advisor. Rick Rule of Sprott just put a bunch of money into it. I think it will be successful. They just raised money at 15 cents a share and they expect to stake a lot of ground and they will be drilling sometime in the next six months. Could they go from 15 million to 75 million? Very easily.
Quinton Hennigh on Hannan: …I came to the conclusion that this region hosts what is potentially a world-class copper province. Recently, I have gotten to know the high-caliber team at Hannan and am honoured they asked me to help with this game-changing discovery.”
Michael Hudson CEO of Hannan on May 28, 2020: …we have completed an active successful start to our 2020 field program. We excited to discover further copper-silver mineralized zones in outcrop kilometres along strike from unknown mineralization and eagerly await assay results. Hannan will engage Swiss Resource Capital AG for 12 months at 13,500 euros per month to provide Investor Relations in Europe.
There is no doubt there will be plenty of prospective news from all three (Max, Aurania and Hannan), with potentially major discoveries in the near future.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Max Resource Corp is a client of Canacom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive. The author has been compensated to cover Max Resource Corp on The Deep Dive, with The Deep Dive having full editorial control. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security.
