Acero-Martin Exploration - Resourcexinvestor Editorial
August 28th, 2007
Vancouver, BC
Good Evening – Darryl Kelly of Resourcexinvestor.com recently released an editorial on Acero-Martin Exploration Inc. Darryl makes some interesting and timely comments on the Company that I feel are worthy of your consideration. His article is below, and I hope you will take a moment to read his report.
Thank you for your interest in Acero-Martin Exploration Inc. and best regards.
Ryan Fletcher
Acero-Martin Exploration Inc.
(604) 999-5603 Phone
(800) 884-5269 Toll Free
(604) 646-0640 Fax
Email: ryan@acero-martin.com
www.acero-martin.com
Acero Martin Bears Similarity To Early Peru Copper
Continued Drilling Of Good Grades Bodes Well
By Darryl Kelley
Acero-Martin Exploration’s (TSX.V:ASD) non-stop drill program on its 100%-owned Pinaya Gold and Copper project in southern Peru continues to demonstrate additional resource potential. With over 15,000 metres drilled since project acquisition in 2004, Acero-Martin is focusing the bulk of its resources on bringing the Pinaya project to production on a fast track.
Last year, the company released a N.I. 43-101 compliant report that put total resources at Pinaya at 666,000 ounces of gold and 385 million pounds of copper in combined Indicated and Inferred categories.
The current 10,000 metre drill program has encountered continuously solid grades of mineralization which means when the updated resource calculation is issued later this year including this data, the numbers will likely be substantially higher.
At $1.20 per pound for copper and $650 per ounces for gold, that makes the current resource worth US$1.33 Billion. When discounted to 10% of that value for “in situ” (in the ground) status, a figure of $133 Million is reached, or $2.33 per share issued.
The company is presently trading in the $0.30 to $0.45 range.
The value of the In Situ deposit will be substantially greater if the updated resource calculation, expected in early Q4 2007 bumps the resource numbers up.
Throughout 2007, the exploration program has added new zones, expanded existing ones, and continued to see improved mineralization at depth and along strike.
Highlights include:
• 0.75% copper over 68.50 meters in drill hole PDH-119;
• 1.73 grams per tonne gold over 4.50 meters and a separate zone of 0.41% copper over 30.80 meters in drill hole PDH-123;
• 0.57 grams per tonne gold and 0.25% copper over 26.00 meters in drill hole PDH-126.
While these intercepts don’t carry the spectacular grades that excite investors, when looked in context with previous results, the consistency and continuity of the grades overall make the project very attractive to larger mining companies, who are eagerly scouring the planet for quality projects to add to their property portfolios.
Peru Copper (AMEX:CUP, TSX:PCR) was recently acquired by Chinese mining conglomerate Aluminum Corp of China (NYSE:ACH) . The company was purchased for CA$6.60 per share in a friendly all-cash offer that included an immediate $70 Million private placement to keep the development of Peru Copper’s Toromocho project, the catalyst for the takeover, moving forward.
The offer represented a 21% premium to Peru Copper's 20-day volume-weighted average trading price on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the company said.
But parent Chinalco is a much smaller player in copper, not even ranking in the top five among world producers, which is dominated by Chile's state-owned Codelco and by U.S.-based copper producer Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX)
Controlling shareholders have sizable stakes in other, smaller copper companies, making buyouts of companies like Acero-Martin a hurdle. Grupo Mexico, for instance, owns 75% of Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE:PCU).
Peru Copper’s evolution proceeded very similarly to Acero-Martin’s. Peru Copper acquired the Toromocho project in 2000 and continuous exploration drilling continued to add to known resources, with the discovery of additional new zones finally bringing the value of the deposit to the point where it started to receive the notice of larger companies.
Acero-Martin’s ongoing drilling since the release of the initial resource estimate has expanded and further defined the Western Porphyry and Gold Oxide Skarn Zones at Pinaya, which remain open for expansion along strike and down dip.
Acero’s project development has started to attract some of the more recognized talent in the mining business too.
Dr. David Stone, B.Ap.Sc Ph.D MBA joined the board of directors of Acero Martin in August 2007. Dr. Stone is a mining engineer with a career that spans 25 years of consulting to the metal mining industry. His principal expertise is in mining rock mechanics where he has provided designs and operational advice for both open pit and underground operations worldwide. He has also authored a number of pre-feasibility and feasibility studies based on his broad knowledge of current mining methods, capital and operating costs, and project development requirements. Dr. Stone is the President of MineFill Services, Inc., a mining consultancy based in Seattle, Washington and also sits on a number of other boards of TSX listed companies.
Pinaya is located along the southeastern end of the “Andahuaylas-Yauri Belt;” an emerging and highly prospective gold-copper-moly belt that stretches over 300km throughout Southern Peru. This belt is home to some of the richest metal deposits in Latin America including: Norsemont’s (TSX.V:NOM) Constancia project, Aruntani’s Rescatada project, and Xstarta’s giant Las Bambas copper-gold project.
The Rescatada project was purchased by Aruntani SAC, a Peruvian company from AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) in 2005 for US$12.5 Million.
Source: Resourcexinvestor.com, August 24th, 2007 |