Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/492982
36 www.resourceworld.com a p r i l / m a y 2 0 1 5 MINING Cyprium Mining arranges major financing Cyprium Mining Corp. [CUG-TSXV] recently arranged a private placement bond financing totaling US $4.5 million with the sub- scriber having the right of first refusal for an additional US $3.5 million. Funds will be used to ramp up the company's toll milling business in Chihuahua, northern Mexico. Bond financing avoids the share dilution of an equity financing; Cyprium has 38.1 mil- lion shares outstanding. In addition to toll milling, the company is also involved in exploring the Las Cristinas copper-silver project two hours north of Chihuahua City. In October 2014, Cyprium secured the exclusive use of the 100 tonne-per-day Aldama flotation plant near Chihuahua City which is being offered to local miners. Chihuahua State has over 300 small mines at various stages of development. The company plans to spend about US $400,000 to double the capacity of the mill. Cash flow from toll mining will be used to fund exploration pro- grams and prepare for production on the Las Cristinas property. Cyprium wants to fast-track production at Las Cristinas which has returned high copper grades, including 9.5% copper and 35 g/t silver over 1.30 metres. Other assays included 12.2 metres grading 1.4% copper with 4 g/t silver and 10.8 metres of 1.4% copper and 5 g/t silver. The first phase of diamond drilling totaled 1,204 metres and focused on the North Mount and South Mount, a 550-metre long mineralized section located at the southern end of the prop- erty where copper production took place in the early 1970s. Twelve holes were drilled to a maximum vertical depth of 150 metres. The high grades prompted Cyprium to apply for a production permit, expected in the near future. Meanwhile, site preparation is under way and an underground exploration program is in progress. Production will start by processing stockpiles from 1970s mining. "Drilling results thus far validate our geological model and confirm our belief in the very significant exploration potential of Las Cristinas," said Andre St. Michel, President and CEO. "They support our business model of advancing the development of the Las Cristinas Project in the short-term as we have found evidence of mineralization at a shallow vertical depth of 20 to 80 metres in the mineralized structure known as Semana Santa 2. Semana Santa 2 also returned favorable copper metal factor (Cu% multi- plied by true thickness in metres) in the South Mount also near surface, opening up the potential for open-pit production in this area." During Q2 and Q3 2015, environmental studies will be final- ized and permits will be sought to build a mill at Las Cristinas. During Q3, this year, processing of Las Cristinas ore is planned to start at the Aldama plant to be followed by construction of a 200 tpd mill at the mine site. n