Benton Resources Corp. ("Benton") (TSX VENTURE:BTC) is pleased to announce that
it has been advised by Coro Mining Corp. ("Coro" or the "Company") (TSX:COP)
that Coro has released a new development alternative for San Jorge and the
highlights from the Copper Leach Project ("the Project") based on a Preliminary
Feasibility Study ("PFS") (the "Propipe PFS") by Process and Pipeline Projects
SA. ("Propipe"), based in Santiago, Chile, which will be filed on SEDAR within
45 days. Benton currently holds approximately 42% of the issued and outstanding
shares of Coro. The Project is located in the Provinces of Mendoza and San Juan,
Argentina. This announcement describes the highlights from the Propipe PFS for
development of the Project using heap leaching only, involving the construction
of an SXEW heap leach plant outside of the province of Mendoza in the
neighbouring pro-mining province of San Juan. Ore transport would be by means of
a 22km long railway line to be constructed for the Project. Current legislation
in the Province of Mendoza prohibits the use sulphuric acid required in heap
leaching of copper ore. The Company and Propipe have received a legal opinion
that there should be no legal impediment to the transport of ore between Mendoza
and San Juan.
This PFS takes into account the outcomes of an engineering study completed in
2008 by Ausenco Canada Inc. ("Ausenco"), as announced in the Company' news
release dated April 3, 2008, and revised and updated by Propipe in late 2011.
The Propipe PFS includes the resources, reserves, open pit mine plan, operating
and capital costs and financial analysis for a leach Project which describes the
production of up to 25,000 tonnes (55 million lbs) per year of copper cathode
for a period of 10 years. It is a comprehensive study of the viability of the
Project that has advanced to a stage where the mining method has been
established and an effective method of mineral processing has been determined,
and includes a financial analysis based on reasonable assumptions of technical,
engineering, legal, operating, economic, social, and environmental factors and
the evaluation of other relevant factors which are sufficient to determine if
all or part of the mineral resource may be classified as a mineral reserve.
The Propipe PFS was prepared in conjunction with a NI 43-101 resource estimate
completed by NCL Ingenieria y Construccion S.A. ("NCL"), Santiago, Chile, as
announced in the Company's news release on January 16, 2008. No additional
drilling has been completed on the Project since the date of that estimate, and
the resource has not been updated since then. The mine plan is unchanged from
the Ausenco report, and no additional metallurgical testwork has been completed
since the date of the Ausenco report. Full particulars of all exploration data,
the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate mineral resources,
quality control and data verification methods are as disclosed in the Ausenceo
report, filed by the Company on SEDAR on May 23, 2008.
All references to $ in this News Release are references to US$.
Highlights:
-- Measured and Indicated Resources of oxide and enriched material of 58
million tonnes at 0.59%CuT containing 342,600 tonnes (750 million lbs)
of copper
-- Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of oxide and enriched ores of 48
million tonnes at 0.61% CuT containing 294,600 tonnes (650 million lbs)
of copper
-- Mine life: 10 years
-- Total copper production: 223,400 tonnes (492 million lbs)
-- Copper price: $2.80/lb, flat
-- Average cash operating costs in years 1 to 5: $1.26/lb Cu
-- Stand-alone acid plant generating Project acid requirements and
contributing to power requirements
-- Initial capital costs: $184.5 million (with an accuracy of +/- 25%,
including $5 million in project contingency, $15 million in other
provisions and $8.2 million in working capital)
-- Pre-tax NPV(10%): $259.5 million, IRR: 41%
-- After tax NPV(10%): $132.7 million, IRR: 29%
-- Copper recovery sensitivity (+/-10%): NPV(10%): +/- $48.6 million, IRR:
+/- 6.8%
-- Operating cost sensitivity (+/-10%): NPV(10%): +/- $23.4 million, IRR:
+/- 3.4%
-- Capital cost sensitivity (+/-10%): NPV(10%): +/- $12.6 million, IRR: +/-
3.5%
-- Sulphur price sensitivity (+/-10%): NPV(10%): +/- $2.6 million, IRR: +/-
0.4%
-- Copper price sensitivity:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copper Price, $/lb $1.96 $2.24 $2.52 $2.80 $3.08 $3.36 $3.64
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NPV(10%) After Tax $ mill -$19.2 $33.0 $83.3 $132.7 $181.6 $230.3 $279.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRR, % 7.0 15.0 22.4 29.3 35.8 42.0 48.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Stephens, President and CEO of Coro commented, "Coro is pleased with the
outcome of this latest study which once again confirms the robust nature of San
Jorge. The Company is confident that this revised San Jorge development plan can
be executed in an environmentally responsible manner to the lasting economic and
social benefit of the Provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. In addition, the
Project has the potential to more than satisfy Argentina's current consumption
of copper, and thus could be developed in accordance with the country's stated
policy of reducing imports. We further believe that the combination of what
would essentially be a rock quarrying operation, similar to many others
currently operating in Mendoza, together with a processing plant located in San
Juan, which has a vibrant and well developed metalliferous mining industry,
should satisfy essentially all of the objections that were raised to the
previous flotation project which was denied legislative ratification in Mendoza
last year".
Stephen Stares, President and CEO of Benton added, "Benton is very pleased with
the work of the Coro team and their consultants in developing this alternative
strategy for the San Jorge Project. We would like to commend Coro for continuing
to demonstrate that they are fully committed to realizing the potential of San
Jorge in the most environmentally responsible manner and in their persistence in
moving this project towards development in a way that addresses the concerns of
all stakeholders. We are excited to see the project move forward under this new
strategy and are pleased that our approximate 42% stake in Coro will continue to
provide our shareholders with exposure to such a robust and advanced project as
we complete our spin-out transaction. We wish the Coro team continued success
and fully support their efforts in Latin America".
A copy of this news release together with an accompanying letter will be sent to
all of the members of the recently formed Federal Organisation of Mining
Provinces ("OFEMI"), which includes Mendoza, in order that they may consider the
importance of this Project to Argentina. Upon the successful development of this
leach project the Company will consider the alternatives for a flotation
project."
I. Mineral Resources:
San Jorge is a mid-sized porphyry copper gold deposit, containing oxide,
enriched, and primary mineralization. Resources are contained within Oxide
material, which can only be processed by heap leach methods; Enriched material,
which could be processed by heap leach or flotation; and Primary material which
can only be processed by flotation methods. The table below summarizes mineral
resources on the San Jorge property. Mineral reserves disclosed on the following
page are included in the mineral resource numbers below. The mineral resource
calculations described below are effective as at January 16, 2008 and have
remained unchanged since this date.
Table 1: Mineral Resources
Measure & Indicated (at 0.30% CuT cut-off)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
million CuT
Domain Category tonnes CuT Au Metal Au
(M t) (%) (g/t) (M lb) (M ozs)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxide Measured 19 0.59 0.23 250 0.15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxide Indicated 13 0.46 0.20 130 0.80
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxide Measured + Indicated 32 0.53 0.22 380 0.23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enriched Measured 24 0.67 0.21 360 0.17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enriched Indicated 1.6 0.47 0.20 17 0.01
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enriched Measured + Indicated 26 0.65 0.21 370 0.18
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary Measured 36 0.49 0.23 390 0.27
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary Indicated 100 0.41 0.18 910 0.58
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary Measured + Indicated 136 0.43 0.19 1,300 0.85
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals Measured + Indicated 190 0.48 0.21 2,000 1.30
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The gold and the Primary resources would not be recoverable in the Leach Only
Project, and therefore only the leachable oxide and enriched copper resources
within an economic envelope of $1.50/lb copper are shown in Table 2 below:
Table 2: Leach Only Project Mineral Resources Within Economic Envelope, based on
a $1.50/lb Cu price
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CuT
Domain Category Tonnage CuT Metal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(K tons) (%) (k lb)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 19,395 0.59 250,481
------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxide Indicated 12,538 0.46 126,337
------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured + Indicated 31,933 0.54 376,818
------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 445 0.39 3,834
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 24,315 0.67 356,763
------------------------------------------------------------------
Enriched Indicated 1,648 0.47 17,076
------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured + Indicated 25,963 0.65 373,839
------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 395 0.52 4,524
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 43,710 0.63 607,244
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Indicated 14,186 0.46 143,413
------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured + Indicated 57,896 0.59 750,657
------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 840 0.45 8,358
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Mineral Reserves, Mining, Processing and Production Plan:
The Project contemplates an open pit mine to extract oxide and enriched material
and their processing by heap leach methods, (including bacterial leaching for
the enriched material) and recovery of cathode copper via solvent
extraction-electro winning (SXEW) together with an on-site sulphur burning acid
plant. Overall ore contained in the mine plan developed by NCL is 48.4 million
tonnes, with an average grade of 0.61% CuT. The Mineral Reserves are categorized
as 83% Proven and 17% Probable of which 55% is oxide and 45% is enriched as is
set out in Table 3. The Inferred resources are currently considered as waste.
The mineral reserve calculations described below are effective as at May 23,
2008 and subsequently validated by NCL.
Table 3: San Jorge - Mineral Reserves by Categories and Ore Type
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proven Probable Total
---------------------------------------------------------
Ore COG% kt CuT% CuS% kt CuT% CuS% kt CuT% CuS% %
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxide 0.3 18,433 0.60 0.47 7,985 0.50 0.39 26,418 0.57 0.44 55
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enriched 0.2 21,583 0.66 0.13 389 0.47 0.09 21,972 0.66 0.13 45
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 40,016 0.63 0.28 8,374 0.50 0.37 48,390 0.61 0.30 100
-------------------------------------------------------------------
% 83 17 100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The mine plan was driven by two factors; firstly to process up to a maximum of
6.3 million tonnes per year in the crushing plant; and secondly to minimize the
overall strip ratio, especially in the early years. This plan to place a total
of 48.4 million tonnes of oxide and enriched material on to heap leach pads was
then used by Propipe to prepare a processing plan for the production of up to
25,000 tonnes per year of copper cathodes during the Life of Mine ("LOM") as is
set out in Table 4:
Table 4: Mine, Plant Processing and Production Plan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
----------------------------------
Leach Only Year 1 2 3 4 5 6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mine Extraction Oxide kt 6,000 5,000 5,002 2,891 2,048 2,758
Enriches kt 1,593 1,586 2,073 2,014 2,104 3,858
Total Ore kt 7,593 6,586 7,075 4,905 4,152 6,616
Waste kt 6,772 4,927 4,511 6,420 6,848 4,384
Strip Ratio 0.89 0.75 0.64 1.31 1.65 0.66
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plant Feed Oxide kt 5,868 5,132 4,466 2,891 2,584 2,758
CuT % 0.50 0.55 0.66 0.76 0.46 0.44
Enriched kt 0 0 0 2,068 3,716 3,542
CuT % 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.44 0.47 0.52
Total Ore kt 5,868 5,132 4,466 4,958 6,300 6,300
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Production Avg Recovery % 85.00 85.00 85.00 79.48 73.84 73.70
Acid Cons Kg/t 21.1 22.7 31.4 26.2 17.9 18.5
Copper Cathodes t 24,999 24,129 24,997 24,661 21,532 22,547
Cash Cost
(US$c/Lb) 125 122 113 122 147 138
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021 2022 2023 2024 Total
----------------------------------
Leach Only Year 7 8 9 10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mine Extraction Oxide kt 2,182 537 COG 0.3 CuT 26,418
Enriches kt 6,342 2,401 COG 0.2 CuT 21,971
Total Ore kt 8,524 2,938 48,389
Waste kt 2,475 738 37,075
Strip Ratio 0.29 0.25 0.77
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plant Feed Oxide kt 2,182 537 0 0 26,418
CuT % 0.54 0.98 0.00 0.00
Enriched kt 3,050 1,834 5,680 2,082 21,972
CuT % 0.70 1.60 0.63 0.63
Total Ore kt 5,232 2,371 5,680 2,082 48,390
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Production Avg Recovery % 73.00 69.15 66.30 66.30
Acid Cons Kg/t 22.4 40.6 17.6 17.6 22.5
Copper Cathodes t 24,215 23,916 23,684 8,683 223,363
Cash Cost
(US$c/Lb) 121 91 144 179 126
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The overall LOM strip ratio is relatively low at 0.77:1, peaking at 1.65:1 in
the fifth year with a minimum strip ratio of 0.25:1 in year eight.
Since the Ausenco engineering study was published in May 2008, the economic
parameters concerning capital and operating costs and copper price have changed
significantly. Costs have increased due to escalation of labour cost, diesel,
power, consumables and materials, plus the additional transport cost resulting
from the proposed location of the process plant 22 km from the mine. At the same
time, the copper prices have also increased significantly, compensating for the
upward trend in costs. The technical parameters of the project remained
unchanged from the Ausenco study, except for the location of the heap leach
operation. In order to assess changes in the economic parameters since 2008, NCL
carried out an analysis of the validity of the open pit design, reserves and
mine plan evaluated in the Ausenco study, and concluded that all those elements
are valid under the conditions of the current study. The main conclusion of the
analysis is that increases in the operating costs are mostly offset by increases
in copper price, to the extent that the selected pit from a Whittle exercise run
using the current parameters is virtually identical to the pit selected in the
2008 Study. The validity of the Ausenco mine plan was therefore confirmed; it
preferentially extracts oxide ore early in the mine life, delaying the mining
and processing of the enriched ore which had slower leach kinetics, as well as
deferring project capital. The production plan contains 223,400 tonnes (492
million lbs) of recoverable copper as cathode.
A total of seventeen 4 & 6 m column tests were completed at SGS Laboratories,
Santiago, Chile in 2008. The metallurgical parameters were validated by Propipe
from a diffusion controlled leaching model developed by Ausenco in 2008. That
model used a scale-up factor of 1.5 and derivation of the projected leach cycle
of 115 days for oxide and 150 days for enriched, average acid consumptions of
26.1 kg/t for oxide and 18.3 kg/t for enriched, and recoveries of 85% of total
copper for oxide and 66.3% of total copper for enriched.
Capital and operating cost estimates were updated by Propipe and reflect the
market environment in Argentina (Q4 2011) for owner mining, crushing,
agglomeration, transport and stacking of ore, acid production from a sulfur
burning acid plant, cathode production by solvent extraction and
electro-winning, and cathode transportation. After a series of trade off studies
of the various power and acid supply alternatives, it was concluded that current
and projected sulfuric acid shortages were best addressed by the inclusion of a
140,000 ton per year on-site sulfur burning acid plant. The acid and co-gen
power plant was estimated to have a capital cost of $23.6 million, and was sized
to provide the projected sulfuric acid requirements for the operation, and
approximately half of the 10 MW required project power. The rest of the power
will be supplied from the Argentinean grid in Calingasta located 93 km to the
north of the leaching plant, in San Juan province, at a cost of $11.5 million.
Trade off studies were also performed to determine the most cost efficient way
of hauling ore from the mine site to the leach process plant in San Juan.
Trucking, conveyor and rail were studied, with the lowest operational cost and
optimal technical alternative being a 22 km railway with 3,000 HP locomotive and
42 wagons of 56 tonnes capacity, for a total cost of $23.5 million. Water will
be supplied by a 20 km pipeline from the El Tigre stream located in the
Yalguaraz ranch, owned by Minera San Jorge.
III. Operating Costs:
All operating costs associated with ore transport to San Juan and acid plant
were included in the plant operating costs, as shown in Table 5:
Table 5: Average Annual Operating Costs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Cash Cost Summary 1 2 3 4 5 6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MINE $k 23,425 22,037 21,792 22,519 22,876 21,931
$/t ore 3.99 4.29 4.88 4.54 3.63 3.48
$/kg Cu 0.94 0.91 0.87 0.91 1.06 0.97
c/lb 42.50 41.43 39.54 41.42 48.19 44.12
$/ton mov 1.63 1.89 1.88 1.98 1.74 1.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLANT $k 35,938 33,085 31,023 34,389 37,236 37,233
$/t ore 6.12 6.45 6.95 6.94 5.91 5.91
$/kg Cu 1.44 1.37 1.24 1.39 1.73 1.65
c/lb 65.21 62.20 56.29 63.25 78.44 74.90
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G&A $k 9,570 9,570 9,570 9,570 9,570 9,570
$/t ore 1.63 1.86 2.14 1.93 1.52 1.52
$/kg Cu 0.38 0.40 0.38 0.39 0.44 0.42
c/lb 17.36 17.99 17.36 17.60 20.16 19.25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL $k 68,933 64,692 62,385 66,478 69,681 68,733
c/lb 125 122 113 122 147 138
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021 2022 2023 2024 TOTAL LOM
Cash Cost Summary 7 8 9 10 COST
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MINE $k 20,410 12,494 9,153 4,165 180,802
$/t ore 3.90 5.27 1.61 2.00 3.74
$/kg Cu 0.84 0.52 0.39 0.48 0.81
c/lb 38.23 23.70 17.53 21.76 36.72
$/ton mov 1.86 3.40 1.61 2.00 1.89
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLANT $k 34,638 25,778 56,343 20,590 346,253
$/t ore 6.62 10.87 9.92 9.89 7.16
$/kg Cu 1.43 1.08 2.38 2.37 1.55
c/lb 64.89 48.89 107.91 107.56 70.32
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G&A $k 9,570 9,570 9,570 9,570 95,697
$/t ore 1.83 4.04 1.68 4.60 1.98
$/kg Cu 0.40 0.40 0.40 1.10 0.43
c/lb 17.93 18.15 18.33 49.99 19.43
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL $k 64,619 47,841 75,065 34,325 622,752
c/lb 121 91 144 179 126
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. Capital Costs:
Initial capital costs, including mining fleet, ore transport, plant,
infrastructure, other provisions, owner costs, working capital, and
contingencies, were estimated by Propipe at $184.5 million, as set out in Table
6:
Table 6: Capital Cost Estimate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial Capital Expenditure $000's
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10: Mining 22,050
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
20: Process 49,997
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
40: Utilities & Reagents 2,089
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
50: Onsite Infrastructure 6,549
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
60: Offsite Infrastructure 64,094
Includes: Acid and Co-generation Plant 23,598
Includes: Ore Railway transport to San Juan 23,510
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
70: Indirects 12,479
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
80: Owners Costs 6,763
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
90: Other 20,478
Includes: Working Capital 8,182
Includes: Contingency 5,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 184,499
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
An additional $17 million in capital is expended over the life of the Project as
deferred, sustaining and closure costs. The capital cost estimate excludes
losses or gains that may arise from foreign exchange rate variations, cost
escalation, and other factors, as detailed in the PFS.
V. Financial Analysis:
The Project has been evaluated on both a pre-tax and after-tax basis, including
export levy and provincial royalty. The base case operating cash flow peaks at
$76 million in the 2nd year with a minimum cash flow of $23 million in the tenth
year, which is the last operating period, as shown in Table 7 below:
Table 7: Operating Cash Flows
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash Flows - $million 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
0 1 2 3 4 5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenues 0 154 149 154 152 133
Operating Cost 0 69 65 62 66 70
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Cash Flows 0 85 84 92 86 63
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial Capital Investment 176 0 0 0 0 0
Deferred Capital Investment 0 2 1 1 1 1
Working Capital 8 -1 -0 0 0 -0
VAT Effect 0 11 -1 -0 1 1
Export Tax 0 5 5 5 5 5
Provincial Tax 0 3 3 3 3 2
Taxes 0 0 0 15 26 19
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash Flow After Tax -184 65 76 67 49 36
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash Flows - $million 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
6 7 8 9 10 TOTAL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenues 139 149 148 146 54 1,379
Operating Cost 69 65 48 75 34 623
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Cash Flows 70 85 100 71 19 756
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial Capital Investment 0 0 0 0 0 176
Deferred Capital Investment 1 1 1 1 5 17
Working Capital -0 -2 3 -5 -4 0
VAT Effect -0 -1 -3 6 -13 0
Export Tax 5 5 5 5 2 47
Provincial Tax 3 3 3 2 1 27
Taxes 21 26 32 22 5 167
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash Flow After Tax 41 52 59 40 23 322
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A summary of the economic evaluation at the base case copper price of $2.80/lb
is shown in Table 8:
Table 8: Economic Evaluation at $2.80/lb
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Economic Evaluation Summary- $m Base Case LT $ 2.80 /lb
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Discount Rate 8% 10% 12%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre Tax Project NPV 302 259 222
------------------------------------
IRR 41%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
After Tax Project NPV 160 133 109
------------------------------------
IRR 29%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payback (years) 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI. NI 43-101 PFS:
Propipe managed the preparation of the PFS which will be completed and filed on
SEDAR and Coro's web site within 45 days of this release.
All principal technical personnel and Qualified Persons ("QP") participating in
the development and review of this PFS have extensive relevant experience. The
various parties responsible for supplying data and other information for the
report are as follows:
Sergio Alvarado, BSc (Hons.) Geology, Member of Canadian Institute of Mining,
Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), The Chilean Mining Commission (CMC) and The
Chilean Mining Engineers Institute (IIMCh), who served as an associated
consultant for Propipe, was responsible for the overall preparation of the PFS
as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects and in compliance with Form 43-101F1. He has no relationship with the
Company other than in the preparation of this report.
Rodrigo de Brito Mello, FAusIMM (Consulting Geologist, RBM Ltda) served as the
Qualified Person for those parts of the PFS relating to geology and resource
estimation. Mr. Mello completed a site visit from October 22nd to 26th 2007,
when he was employed by NCL as a geologist and served as QP for both reports
mentioned above. Mr Alvarado has no relationship with the Company other than in
the preparation of this report. He has no relationship with the Company other
than in the preparation of this report.
Eduardo Rosselot, Mining Engineer, Chartered Engineer (CEng) Engineering Council
UK, Professional Member of Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IMMM)
UK, Professional Member of Colegio de Ingenieros de Chile, who served as an
associated consultant for NCL, was responsible for the section relating to
mining. Mr. Rosselot visited the property in January 2012. He has no
relationship with the Company other than in the preparation of this report.
Enrique Quiroga, Mining Engineer, member of Engineering School (Chile) and The
Chilean Mining Commission, who served as an associated consultant for Propipe,
was responsible for those sections relating to mining and process design,
engineering and cost estimation. Mr Quiroga visited the property in September
2011. He has no relationship with the Company other than in the preparation of
this report.
Jaime Simpson, employed by Propipe as Technical & Development and Research
Manager, was responsible for metallurgical process, engineering input, capital
and operational cost estimate for plant. Mr Simpson visited the property in
January 2011. He has no relationship with the Company other than in the
preparation of this report.
Victor Araya, employed by Propipe as Project Director, was responsible for
infrastructure capital estimate and undertaking cash flow analysis. He has no
relationship with the Company other than in the preparation of this report.
Heriban Soto, MSc, PhD, QP, Technical Director SGS, was responsible for
supervising the metallurgical test work and reporting. He has no relationship
with the Company other than in the preparation of this report.
The financial analysis was completed by Coro management.
Collectively, Sergio Alvarado, Rodrigo de Brito Mello, Eduardo Rosellot, Enrique
Quiroga and Heriban Soto are the Qualified Persons for purposes of National
Instrument 43-101, and have approved the San Jorge Information contained in this
press release.
Alan Stephens FIMMM, President and CEO of Coro, a geologist with more than 36
years of industry experience is the Qualified Person for Coro who has reviewed
and approved the contents of this press release.
All mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with the definition
standards on mineral resources and mineral reserves of the Canadian Institute of
Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum referred to in National Instrument 43-101,
commonly referred to as NI 43-101. U.S. reporting requirements for disclosure of
mineral properties are governed by the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) Industry Guide 7. Canadian and Guide 7 standards are
substantially different. This press release uses the terms "measured,"
"indicated" and "inferred" resources. Mineral resources which are not mineral
reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. We advise investors that
while those terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the SEC
does not recognize them. Inferred mineral resources are considered too
speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that
enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves.
CORO MINING CORP.
Alan Stephens, President and CEO
About Coro Mining Corp.:
The Company was founded with the goal of building a mining company focused on
medium-sized base and precious metals deposits in Latin America. The Company
intends to achieve this through the exploration for, and acquisition of,
projects that can be developed and placed into production. Coro's properties
include the advanced San Jorge copper-gold project, in Argentina, and the Berta,
El Desesperado, Chacay, Llancahue, and Celeste copper exploration properties
located in Chile.
About ProPipe S.A.:
ProPipe is a Chilean supplier of consultancy, engineering and project management
services to its customers in the mining process, infrastructure and environment
markets. ProPipe have relevant experience in conceptual and basic design,
preliminary feasibility and feasibilities studies, and detailed engineering for
mining companies in Chile; some of the main clients are BHP Billiton's Minera
Escondida, Antofagasta Minerals's Minera Los Pelambres, Minera El Tesoro, Minera
Esperanza, Minera Las Cenizas and Algorta Norte. The latest Propipe's projects
are Camarones 12,000 ton per year Copper Cathodes plants, Algorta Norte 78 km
Sea Water Pipeline and Minera Escondida Coloso Filter Plant Expansion Project.
ProPipe main office is located in Santiago of Chile, and have more than 100
professionals dedicated to the design and management of engineering projects,
allowing covering efficiently the stages of evaluation, design and
implementation of projects.
For further information please visit the Company's website at www.coromining.com
or contact Michael Philpot, Executive Vice-President at (604) 682 5546 or
investor.info@coromining.com.
About Benton Resources Corp.:
Benton is a Canadian based junior with multiple joint ventures and a diversified
property portfolio in Gold, Nickel, Copper, and Platinum group elements. The
Company currently has approximately $8 million in cash, owns approximately 57.86
million shares in Coro Mining Corp. (TSX:COP), holds approximately 348,000
shares of Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE:SWC), holds 782,500 shares in Marathon
Gold Corp. (TSX:MOZ), holds 1.6 million shares in Puget Ventures (TSX
VENTURE:PVS), holds 8.47 million shares of Mineral Mountain Resources Ltd. (TSX
VENTURE:MMV), and holds 815,000 shares of Bell Copper Corporation (TSX
VENTURE:BCU), holds 1.67 million shares of Trillium North Minerals (TSX
VENTURE:TNM), holds 1.55 million shares of Golden Dory Resources (TSX
VENTURE:GDR) and holds 3 million shares of Parkside Resources (currently
private). Benton is currently in the process of spinning out the majority of its
assets by a plan of arrangement into a new listed company in order to separate
its 41.6% investment in Coro Mining from its cash, equities and exploration
assets. Benton shareholders will receive one share in this new company for each
share of Benton held pursuant to regulatory approval.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Corp.,
Stephen Stares, President
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable
Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information,
including but not limited to those with respect to the Company's business
strategy, the prices of copper, construction schedules, operating and capital
budgets, anticipated mineral recoveries, estimated future production, estimated
costs of future production, permitting time lines, involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements or information. Such factors include, among others,
global economic conditions, changes in prices or demand for commodities
including, in particular, copper, changes in exchange rates, changes in national
or local governments, changes in legislation or regulation or the implementation
or interpretation of laws or regulations, changes in tax rates, timeliness of
government approvals, political or environmental activism, the factual results
of current exploration, development and mining activities, accuracy of resource
and reserve estimates, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be
evaluated, access to skilled personnel, labour relations, costs of labour, costs
and availability of materials and equipment, changes in refining or
transportation costs, as well as those other factors disclosed in the Company's
documents filed from time to time with the securities regulators in the
Provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. The
Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these
forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws. Actual
results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements.