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Dobbs says what makes Mines Management different from other mineral exploration companies is that it controls one of the biggest silver-copper deposits in North America, with an estimated 230 million ounces of silver and 1.7 billion pounds of copper. copper. The deposit remains open for expansion in several directions. In addition to project permitting, the Montanore Project is undergoing advanced stage engineering. The project is designed to produce approximately 6 million ounces of silver and 50 million pounds of copper per year at its base-case operating capacity. The project is located very close to the infrastructure necessary for the development and operation of the mine, including highway, railway, low-cost power and an experienced labor force. A significant amount of work has already been undertaken on the project since its discovery in 1983. Work completed by previous operators includes 70,000 feet of diamond core drilling; construction of a 14,000-foot evaluation adit; advanced-stage engineering and mine planning; project permitting and completion of an approved environmental impact statement. Mines Management was established in 1947 to undertake lead and zinc mining in northeastern Washington. It was an exploration company by 1983, when silver and copper was discovered on its property in northwestern Montana. A majority of the deposit was controlled by US Borax Inc., to which Mines Management leased its claims as operator of the project. Exploration continued into the late 1980s, after US Borax had sold its interest to Noranda Minerals Corp. Noranda began construction of evaluation facilities and spent more than $100 million advancing the project toward development over 13 years. In 2002, at a time of historically low metal prices, Noranda decided to withdraw from the project and deeded title to the entire Montanore Project to Mines Management, in accordance with its lease agreement at no cost. ���It was a transformative event in the history of the company,��� MARCH 2013 said vice president of corporate development Douglas Dobbs. Since it acquired Montanore, Mines Management has advanced the project in a number of ways. The company has conducted preliminary engineering activities; started the re-permitting process; listed itself on both the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange; and arranged financing for more than $50 million. Mines Management has also completed a Canadian NI 43-101 Technical Report (2004) and an NI 43-101-compliant preliminary economic assessment (2011) on the project. Dobbs says what makes Mines Management different from other mineral exploration companies is that it controls one of the biggest silver-copper deposits in North America, with an estimated 230 million ounces of silver and 1.7 billion pounds of copper. ��� Advancing the project toward production would be a significant event in the life of our company, and potentially launch it into mid-tier production status,��� Douglas Dobbs said. He says the company���s growth strategy is to advance the Montanore Project toward development and to seek to acquire and advance other precious or base metals projects it believes could add shareholder value. On the subject of financing, Douglas Dobbs says that, because Mines Management is still in the exploration stage, it plans to fund future activities through additional issuances of equity, ���while considering alternative forms of financing as deemed appropriate.��� In addition to Montanore, Mines Management has the La Estrella gold-silver project in Huancavelica, Peru. La Estrella is an advanced-stage exploration project on which a large gold and silver mineralized zone has been identified through previ- ous surface exploration and drilling. The La Estrella property encompasses approximately 2,500 hectares of land in the Central Peru polymetallic belt, located approximately 130 km south of Huancayo in the Department of Huancavelica, a region with a history of silver mining dating to the 1500s. The project is in an area of established infrastructure, with roads and electric power, and lies within 30 km of Minera Buenaventura���s historic Julcani Silver Mine which opened in 1955 and is still operating today. In April 2012, the company acquired an option to earn 75% interest in the project by making periodic option payments, plus exploration expenditures totaling $5 million, including completing an NI 43-101-compliant preliminary economic assessment. In August 2012, Mines Management completed drilling of eight new diamond drill holes totaling approximately 2,700 metres, in a program designed to test the southwestern extent of the gold and silver mineralized zone, which remains open to the north, south, and west. Seven of the eight holes intersected significant thicknesses of gold and silver mineralization. The 2012 drilling program extended the known mineralized zone by approximately 500 metres north to south and by 300 metres to the west. The thickness of mineralization averages approximately 150 metres and includes high-grade intervals, with silver and gold grades exceeding 200 grams per tonne and 1.0 gram per tonne, respectively. n www.resourceworld.com www.resourceworld.com 29