- Meridian Mining (MNO) has signed an option agreement to wholly acquire the copper-gold Cabaçal Project in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil
- Under the terms of the deal, Meridian will pay to Prometálica Mineração and IMS Engenharia Mineral a total of C$11.51 million in cash and 4.5 million shares
- The cash payments and shares issuance will be made according to the satisfaction of various milestones over a period of 39 months
- An inferred resource estimate was completed by Falcon Metals in 2009, outlining a 21.7-million-tonne resource at 0.6 per cent copper and 0.6 grams per tonne of gold
- Meridian Mining (MNO) is currently up 16.67 per cent and is trading at 35 cents per share
Meridian Mining (MNO) has signed an option agreement to wholly acquire the copper-gold Cabaçal Project in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
The Cabaçal copper-gold deposit was discovered by BP Minerals in 1983, and was then acquired by Rio Tinto in 1989 as part of their C$5.66 billion buyout of BP Minerals.
The project was acquired in 2005 by two private Brazilian companies which currently hold the property: Prometálica Mineração and IMS Engenharia Mineral.
Under the terms of the option agreement, Meridian will issue to Prometálica Mineração and IMS Engenharia Mineral a total of $11.51 million in cash and 4.5 million shares. These cash payments and share issuances will be made according to the satisfaction of various milestones over a period of 39 months.
Located in the Alto Jauru Belt, approximately 330 kilometres west of Cuiabá, the Cabaçal deposit was previously mined by BP Minerals and Rio Tinto as a shallow, high-grade underground operation from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. However, this excluded the main zone of of sulphide mineralisation.
During this time, the underground mine produced 869,279 tonnes at 0.82 per cent copper and five grams per tonne of gold. Most recently, an inferred resource estimate completed by Falcon Metals in 2009 outlined a 21.7-million-tonne resource at 0.6 per cent copper and 0.6 grams per tonne of gold.
The deposit’s mineralisation remains open beyond a depth of 175 metres as well as along strike, which extends for more than 1,800 metres and has previously been defined by more than 400 historic drill holes. The mineral system is shallow-dipping, which Meridian says makes an attractive target for an open pit development.
Adrian McArthur, President and CEO of Meridian Mining, said the Cabaçal Project represents an outstanding opportunity for the company’s future.
“Having laid dormant in two small private companies for so long the Company looks forward to leverage off the historical exploration data of Rio Tinto and BP Minerals.
“The extensive mineral system consists of a stacked series of shallow-dipping copper-gold lenses – an ideal geometry for testing the open-pit development potential,” he added.
Meridian Mining (MNO) is currently up 16.67 per cent and is trading at 35 cents per share at 3:08pm EDT.
