Solitario Announces Milpo / Votorantim Have Earned a 61% Interest in Its Bongará Zinc Project, Peru
03 4월 2015 - 5:45AM
Business Wire
Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. (“Solitario;”
NYSE MKT: XPL; TSX: SLR) is pleased to announce that
Votorantim Metais (“Votorantim”) and its successor in interest,
Compañía Minera Milpo S.A.A. (“Milpo”; Lima Stock Exchange:
MILPOCI) have earned a 61% interest in Solitario’s Bongará
Zinc Project in Peru. Votorantim completed all the conditions
necessary to earn its interest and Solitario now holds a 39%
interest in the project. As previously announced (November 13,
2014), Votorantim and Milpo entered into an agreement for Milpo to
buy Votorantim’s interest in the Bongará project and Milpo’s Board
of Directors approved the purchase in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Milpo is 51% owned by Votorantim with the remaining 49% of Milpo
publicly owned.
Milpo is the second largest zinc producer in Peru, operating
three of the largest underground zinc mines in Peru. In addition to
its strong cash-flow positive zinc production in Peru, Milpo
reported cash on its balance sheet of US$436 million at the end of
2014. Votorantim is the world's fifth largest primary zinc producer
with three operating zinc smelters, two operating zinc mines, and
also has operations in the United States and China. It owns the
Cajamarquilla zinc smelter and is the majority shareholder of
Milpo, both located in Peru. From the second half of 2006 to the
end of 2014, Votorantim has expended approximately US$42.4 million
on exploration and development at Bongará.
2015 Work Program
Milpo has assumed operatorship of the project from Votorantim
and has informed Solitario that it intends to complete a
pre-feasibility study on the Bongará project by the end of 2015.
This work will be instrumental in providing an initial analysis of
project economics and guide the direction of feasibility work
slated for 2016. In addition, Milpo plans to complete the access
road to the project during 2015. To date, approximately 25
kilometers of the road have been completed with about six more
kilometers required. Completion of the access road will allow
acceleration of development activities and lower costs, as access
has been exclusively by helicopter or footpaths to date. Additional
2015 work plans are being evaluated by Milpo.
About the Project
Zinc mineralization occurs as a Mississippi Valley Type (“MVT”)
deposit and is contained in carbonate rocks of the Pucará rock
formation, the host-rock for many of Peru’s zinc mines. Peru is the
third largest zinc producing country in the world. Solitario
released its initial NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for the
project on June 23, 2014. The Bongará resource estimate was based
on a database that includes drilling campaigns of two different
companies. A total of 82 drill holes were completed by Cominco
totaling 24,781 meters drilled from 1997 to 2000, and 404 drill
holes completed by Votorantim including 92,499 meters drilled from
2006 to 2013. Additional project information is found at
http://www.solitarioxr.com/bongara.php.
Terms of the Bongará Joint Venture with Votorantim
Metais
Currently, Solitario owns 39% of the Bongará project and
Milpo/Votorantim owns 61%. Since inception of the joint venture in
2006, Votorantim has funded 100% of project expenditures. Milpo
will earn a 70% interest in the project by continuing to fund all
project expenditures and committing to place the project into
production based upon a positive feasibility study. After earning
70%, Milpo has further agreed to finance Solitario's 30%
participating interest for construction. Solitario will repay the
loan facility through 50% of its net cash flow distributions.
Going Concern Qualification in 10-K
Solitario’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 20, 2015, included an audit
opinion that contained a going concern qualification. This
announcement is made pursuant to NYSE MKT Company Guide Section
610(b), which requires separate disclosure of receipt of an audit
opinion containing a going concern qualification. This announcement
does not represent any change or amendment to the Company’s
financial statements or to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2014.
About Votorantim and Milpo
Votorantim is a privately held Brazilian business conglomerate
that is a leader in every market segment in which it operates,
including cement, pulp and paper, metals, chemicals, orange juice,
and finance. The metals business division accounted for
approximately one third of Votorantim’s consolidated revenues from
production of zinc, nickel, steel and aluminum. Milpo is a publicly
listed company on the Lima stock exchange that operates three
significant underground zinc mines in Peru.
About Solitario
Solitario is a precious and base metal exploration and royalty
company. Solitario’s main focus is on permitting, financing and
constructing the Mt. Hamilton gold project in Nevada. Solitario
controls an 80% interest in Mt. Hamilton. Besides Solitario’s joint
venture with Votorantim, Solitario also has a joint venture with
Anglo Platinum on its Pedra Branca platinum-palladium project in
Brazil. Additional information about Solitario is available at
www.solitarioxr.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking
Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and the U.S.
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as defined in the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (and the
equivalent under Canadian securities laws), that are intended to be
covered by the safe harbor created by such sections.
Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical
fact. They are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the
Company's management on the date the statements are made and
address activities, events or developments that Solitario expects
or anticipates will or may occur in the future, and are based on
current expectations and assumptions. Forward-looking statements
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there
can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate
and actual results and future events could differ materially from
those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the
Company’s expectation of the projected timing and outcome of
engineering studies; expectations regarding the receipt of all
necessary permits and approvals to implement a mining plan, if any,
at Bongará; the potential for confirming, upgrading and expanding
zinc, lead and silver mineralized material at Bongará; future
operating and capital cost estimates may indicate that the stated
resources may not be economic; estimates of zinc, lead and silver
grades provided are not diluted mining grades and the predicted or
actual mining grade could be substantially lower; estimates of
recovery rates for the three types of mineralization, sulfide,
oxide and mixed could be lower than estimated for establishing the
cutoff grade; and other statements that are not historical facts;
risks associated with our funding partner’s (Votorantim Metais
and/or Milpo) ability to finance continued development and
potential construction of the Bongará project. Important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements include, among others, risks
relating to fluctuations in the price of zinc; the inherently
hazardous nature of mining-related activities; uncertainties
concerning reserve and resource estimates; uncertainties relating
to obtaining approvals and permits from governmental regulatory
authorities and country risks of operations outside of the United
States; the possibility that environmental laws and regulations
will change over time and become even more restrictive; and
availability and timing of capital for financing the Company’s
exploration and development activities, including uncertainty of
being able to raise capital on favorable terms or at all; as well
as those factors discussed in Solitario’s filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) including
Solitario’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and its other SEC
filings (and Canadian filings) including, without limitation, its
latest Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The Company does not intend
to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as
may be required under applicable securities laws.
Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp.Debbie Mino-Austin,
(800) 229-6827Director – Investor RelationsorChristopher E. Herald,
(303) 534-1030President & CEO
Solitario Resources (TSX:SLR)
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