Cerro de Pasco Resources (TSXV: CDPR; US-OTC: GPPRF) is advancing exploration at its El Metalurgista project in central Peru, where it plans to clean up the environment by mining a multi-billion-dollar slew of metals from tailings.
Located by the historical mining city of Cerro De Pasco in the central Andes mountains, El Metalurgista holds some $14 billion in silver, zinc, copper, gold and gallium, CEO Guy Goulet said in a video interview. The site, made up of the Excelsior stockpile and Quiulacocha tailings facility, holds more than 150 million tonnes of tailings, which won’t require open pits or underground infrastructure to mine.
“You know what the problem is with mining? It’s mining,” Goulet told The Northern Miner‘s Western Editor Henry Lazenby. “There’s no mining there. It’s all above ground. To produce base metals or precious metals, 40% of the costs on average is mining. For us [it’s] $1 per tonne for mining.”
The company’s near-term focus is on Quiulacocha. Its 75 million tonnes grade at 1.6% copper, 1.3% lead, 1.2 grams gold and 57.9 grams silver for estimated contained metal of 1.25 million tonnes zinc, 632,000 tonnes gold, 115 million oz. silver, 262,000 tonnes of copper and 770,000 tonnes lead.
For the rest of the year, Cerro de Pasco aims to drill 80 holes in a second stage of drilling at Quiulacocha and pursue a listing on the Lima Stock Exchange. It’s also working on metallurgical testing, which, if successful could achieve recoveries of 70%, potentially generating $610 million in annual profit, Goulet says.
Watch the full video below:
