Prize Mining to acquire Manto Negro Copper project

The Manto Negro Copper project consists of seven mining concessions covering a total of 17 959 ha and is located in the state of Coahuilla, approximately 315 km Northwest of Monterrey, Mexico and 100 km West of Monclova.  

The project has been the subject of exploration programmes consisting of drilling, sampling and trenching over the past number of years and is considered to be a brownfield project. In addition, prior operators have constructed roads on the project which will facilitate future exploration and development programmes. 

At least 35 showings on the project have been the subject of the historical work, including metallurgy. The grades of historical sampling, trenching and drilling range from 0.73% – 5.55% Cu, 19 – 793 g/t Ag, 1.5 – 15% Pb and 0.3 – 3.64% Zn. 

The project is identified as a stratabound Cu-Ag (+/- Pb-Zn) oxidised ‘Red Bed type’ copper deposit analogous to the Zambian and DRC Copper Belts. The project area is hosted by Cretaceous carbonates and sandstones with exposures of mineralisation being identified in numerous locations occurring in concordant layers ranging from 2 – 23 m thick that are referred to as ‘Mantos’. Exposures of this mineralisation have been identified over the 50 km length of the project running Northwest-Southeast along the Sierra San Marcos y Pinos mountain range. The regulatory and community environment for the project is favourable and exploration access agreements for the exploration and development of the project are already in place with local communities.

President and CEO of Prize, Feisal Somji, stated: "In our search for a great quality exploration and development copper asset, Prize looked for three key things: good grade and favorable metallurgy, size and exploration upside potential and the ability to bring the project into near term production to take advantage of a rising copper market.”

"The average grade of samples taken from a large number of showings throughout the Manto Negro Copper project range from 1.5 – 2% Cu and 60 – 90 g/t Ag, with many showings having average grades well above this range. The project has excellent exploration potential extending over 50 km in length giving ample opportunity to put together world class tonnage. Lastly, this is a near surface oxidised deposit and the existing metallurgical information suggests straightforward and relatively inexpensive processing options."

The Manto Negro Copper project is owned by Scion Mines S.A. de C.V. Prize has agreed to issue 6 million common shares in exchange for 100% of the shares of Scion. The 6 million purchase price shares will be subject to a 3-year lock-up and restricted resale period during which they may not be sold or otherwise transferred.  Ten percent of the Purchase Price shares will be released from the lock-up upon closing of the acquisition and an additional 15% will be released on each of the 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36-month anniversaries of the closing date. The company has agreed to issue up to an additional 6 million common shares to Scion's shareholder upon the satisfaction of the following conditions:

• 2 million bonus shares if the estimated copper resource of the Manto Negro Copper project (as determined in accordance with NI 43-101 and set out in a technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101) is equal to or greater than 500 million lbs. 
• 2 million bonus shares of the estimated copper resource at the Manto Negro Copper project (as determined in accordance with NI 43-101 and set out in a technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101) is equal to or greater than 750 million lbs. 
• 2 million bonus shares if the estimated copper resource of the Manto Negro Copper project (as determined in accordance with NI 43-101 and set out in a technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101) is equal to or greater than 1 billion lbs.

The completion of the acquisition remains subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

"The acquisition of the Manto Negro Copper Project in no way diminishes Prize's expectations and excitement on the Kena/Daylight Gold Project in BC," commented Somji. "The company continues to move ahead with the Daylight and Toughnut exploration programme and we anticipate releasing the first set of assay results from our drilling programme in December. With this acquisition, Prize is now a two commodity, two jurisdiction company which allows us to build strength, reduce risk and meet its business model to grow our asset value on our balance sheet and move towards near term production," he added.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/finance-business/24112017/prize-mining-to-acquire-manto-negro-copper-project/