PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Metminco has agreed to sell its 49% interest in the Los Calatos copper project, in Peru, to CD Capital Natural Resources Fund III for $5-million.
Metminco told shareholders on Wednesday that the sale of the Los Calatos interest was a repositioning of the company towards becoming a gold producer in the near term, with the sale to provide funding for the ongoing development of the Miraflores gold project, in Colombia.
Los Calatos has a mineral resource of 352-million tonnes, containing an estimated 2.7-million tonnes of copper and 110 000 t of molybdenum, and while Metminco noted that the project was an excellent asset, it could be some years before shareholders could realise value from the asset.
Metminco had been working on a prefeasibility study at the project, with the aim of developing a low-cost, long-life project.
The company is hoping to complete the sale of the Los Calatos interest by the end of June, subject to the resolution of a number of tax related matters.
Metminco in June 2016 signed a binding term sheet with CD Capital for an equity investment of up to $45-million in relation to the Los Calatos project, under which the mining fund earned a 70% interest in the project area.