International Pbx announces Oz Minerals has Dropped its Option to acquire a 90% interest in Copaquire.
(via Thenewswire.ca)
VANCOUVER, B.C. - International PBX Ventures Ltd. ("PBX" or
the "Company") (TSX.V:PBX) provides its shareholders with
the following update.
PBX announced today that it has received formal notice from Oz
Minerals (OZ) that they intend to drop their option to acquire a 90%
interest in Copaquire for $90 million with no retained interest. OZ
cited disappointment with the drilling results as the primary cause
for dropping the option. OZ completed four water holes on the property
for a total of 3,637m, during the course of which core assay samples
were taken to assist with geological characterisation.
All four holes were drilled outside currently defined resource areas.
Drill holes COPW001 and COPW002 both revealed copper mineralization
several hundred metres beyond existing resources at Sulfato South and
Cerro Moly, in areas to the south and west untested by previous drill
campaigns. Refer to the accompanying map for location of all four new
drill holes COPW001-004. Based on assay results provided by OZ, the
Company has calculated the significant assay interval highlights
indicated below. These are in line with previous PBX drill results at
Copaquire.
----------------------------------------
|Drill hole|From|To |Distance|%Cu |%Mo |
|--------------------------------------|
|COPW001 |27 |150|123 |0.18|0.01|
|--------------------------------------|
|incl. |34 |94 |60 |0.25|0.02|
|--------------------------------------|
|COPW002 |9.8 |96 |86.2 |0.28|0.01|
|--------------------------------------|
|incl. |9.8 |38 |28.2 |0.32|0.01|
|--------------------------------------|
|incl. also|56 |92 |36 |0.38|0.00|
|--------------------------------------|
|COPW003 |13 |77 |64 |0.11|0.01|
|--------------------------------------|
|COPW004 |40.5|48 |7.5 |0.17|0.00|
----------------------------------------
The program resulted in the successful discovery of significant
amounts of artesian water in two of the drill holes. This is the
subject of currently ongoing studies by the Company to define the
precise volume and thereby establish its legal right to such water.
"While disappointing, the news from OZ was not unexpected given
current market conditions. Indeed the discovery of a potentially major
water aquifer could have significant economic impact for the Company.
Water in the world's driest desert sells on the plains below for up to
$200,000 per flowing litre a second according to recent newspaper
reports. A recent decision by the Chilean Supreme Court upholds a
concessionaire's right to use water found on his claims",
commented PBX CEO Terry Lynch.
What do we do now?
"Clearly, with savage equity markets, raising any capital is
expensive. We have provided for the raising of up to $800,000 of debt.
We expect this to be provided by certain shareholders of the company
and other interested parties and the Company can confirm that $300,000
has been committed and advanced. An additional $500,000 is under
discussion. The terms of the initial $300,000 was 12% interest and a
6% placement fee with a one year term. This note has a general
security provision" reported CEO Terry Lynch.
"The Company's immediate plan is to conduct a formal sales
process on Copaquire. Below we outline the 43-101 announced resource
for our Sulfato deposit
and for our Cerro Moly resource. In both tables the 43-101-approved
base case resource is highlighted.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|? |Cutoff|Tonnage|Mo% |Metal Mo |CU% |Metal Cu |Re
|Metal |
|Category | | | | | | |
|Re |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |Mo% |T x |% |lbs |Grade|lbs |ppm
|Kgs |
| | |1000 | | | | | |
|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Indicated|0.02
|277,520|0.041|253,731,289|0.092|562,531,199|0.098|27,245|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.03
|184,612|0.050|203,519,935|0.089|364,063,628|0.118|21,715|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.04
|114,576|0.059|149,944,777|0.084|213,101,139|0.131|14,996|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.05 |73,041
|0.068|108,771,404|0.078|125,604,755|0.148|10,790|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.06 |42,838 |0.077|72,506,032 |0.075|70,674,818
|0.156|6,687 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.07 |24,549 |0.086|46,431,417 |0.068|36,976,489
|0.155|3,808 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.08 |14,172 |0.094|29,265,736 |0.061|19,073,886
|0.168|2,388 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.09 |8,312 |0.100|18,361,640 |0.060|10,949,173
|0.194|1,611 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.10 |3,630 |0.107|8,594,504 |0.055|4,399,352
|0.208|755 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Inferred |0.02
|232,396|0.038|192,926,547|0.097|498,058,820|0.059|13,717|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.03
|114,822|0.051|129,040,786|0.096|241,981,635|0.075|8,614 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.04 |59,370 |0.067|87,343,380
|0.084|110,510,788|0.082|4,879 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.05 |38,137 |0.079|66,500,855 |0.077|64,361,061
|0.085|3,228 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.06 |24,863 |0.092|50,579,488 |0.072|39,609,919
|0.078|1,947 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.07 |17,840 |0.103|40,649,201 |0.068|26,895,863
|0.070|1,243 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.08 |12,298 |0.116|31,556,171 |0.064|17,398,497
|0.067|824 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.09 |8,038 |0.133|23,565,810 |0.056|9,841,327
|0.065|519 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|? |0.10 |5,724 |0.148|18,690,983 |0.051|6,476,277
|0.060|342 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
These resources when coupled with the expansion indicated by OZ
Minerals drilling and the discovery of substantial additional water
resources in an area that contains two of the biggest copper mines in
the world means the Company is not without potential suitors. The
Company's intention is to engage an Investment Advisor immediately,
conduct a marketing information process in May, site tours in June,
collect expressions of Interest in July and select a winning bid in
August. The Company believes it will have adequate capital to see
itself through this process. The Company believes even in these
markets the resource and the potential for as much as 200
litres/second of water to be of significant interest to many mining
companies and investors active in the sector.
Technical information in this news release has been prepared and/or
revised by Dr. Chris Hodgson, Geological Engineer and qualified person
as defined in NI 43-101.
About IPBX
International PBX Ventures Inc. (www.internationalpbx.com) is a junior
exploration Company with a strong portfolio of copper, molybdenum and
gold projects in Chile. The 100% owned Copaquire copper molybdenum
property with in excess of two billion pounds of copper equivalent
resource is comprised of three separate projects: Cerro Moly, Sulfato
and Marta. Located in Chile's prolific copper porphyry belt, it is the
Company's most advanced project. Major producing mines Quebrada Blanca
and Collahuasi (the third largest copper mine in the world) are both
located within 15 kilometres of Copaquire.
In addition to Copaquire, PBX owns through its subsidiary Chilean
Metals (www.chileanmetals.com ) six 100%-owned properties comprising
over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific IOCG
("Iron oxide-copper-gold") belt of Chile. Several of these
projects are under review by third parties for possible purchase or
joint venture.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF INTERNATIONAL PBX VENTURES
LTD.
"Terry Lynch"
Terry Lynch, CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider
(as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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