Aim-listed copper/gold explorer Bezant Resources is actively marketing its Mankayan copper project, in the Philippines, to large mining groups and institutions that recognise the strength of copper fundamentally, executive chairperson Colin Bird said on Friday.
The project, which is now Bezant’s sole focus following the sale of the Choco platinum/gold project in Colombia earlier this year, was technically advanced and “well positioned among a diminishing list of prospective global projects”.
Bird commented that many market commentators were forecasting significant copper price increases leading up to 2030, which would bode well for the Mankayan project.
The Mankayan project has probable reserves of 189-million tonnes at 0.46% copper and 0.49 g/t gold, resulting in a total recoverable metal resources of 811 000 t of copper and 2.21-million ounces of gold. The project’s total mining inventory of 390-million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.38% copper and 0.42 g/t gold, equates to about 1.4-million tonnes of copper and 3.9-million ounces of gold.
Independent conceptual study and reports in 2014 suggested a potential post-tax internal rate of return of 21% and post-tax net present value of about $793-million at an 8% discount rate. The total post-tax net cash flows amount to $3.7-billion.