UK miner suspends drilling in Negros copper project

MANILA, Philippines - Copper Development Corp. (CDC), a miner based in the United Kingdom, is suspending further drilling at its Basay copper project in Negros Oriental as it seeks to focus on the analysis of drilling results to be used for discussion on a possible joint venture for the project.

In a statement, CDC said it is suspending further drilling at the Basay project after having completed the drilling of 34,002 meters in the site.

CDC executive chairman Mitch Alland said the decision to suspend further drilling and to focus on coming up with an interim geological report for the project was made as drilling progress has to some degree outstripped the capacity for analysis of drill results.

“The 34,000 meters that we have drilled at Basay represent a major exploration effort. CDC now needs to make the optimum use of all these data to put together an interim report that will compile all that we have learned about the structure and geology of this deposit,” he said.

The report, he said, would provide the basis for identifying future drill targets as well as discussions with some mining companies on a possible joint venture for the project.

A joint venture, he said, is the fastest and most effective way to develop the project.

“The operational desirability of suspending drilling for some time while we digest all the information produced coincides with the current depressed state of the equity capital markets for junior mining companies and the need to conserve cash resources,” he said further.

CDC said drill results to date, continue to confirm the presence of long drill intervals of significant high grade copper-gold-molybdenum mineralization and support the theory that the known deposits in the site are part of a much larger system which are likely to comprise a major copper deposit.

CDC has a 70 percent interest in the Basay project.

The Basay project has an estimated mineral resource of 131 million tons grading 0.48 percent and containing around 1.4 billion pounds of copper metal.

Apart from the Basay project, CDC holds a 92.5 percent interest in the Hinoba-an copper project in Negros Occidental.

CDC said earlier it is also looking for buyers or partners for the Hinoba-an project.

The Hinoba-an project which would use the open pit mining method, is expected to produce approximately 47,665 tons of copper per year at an expected mine life of 15.4 years.

The Hinoba-an project which hosts two deposits, has an estimated gross Joint Ore Reserves Committee compliant mineral resource of 319.3 million tonnes at 0.35 percent copper.