Vancouver, British Columbia, April 19, 2007. Candente Resource Corp. (DNT:TSX) DNT:TSX ("Candente" and/or the "Company") is pleased to report that an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PAEE) completed by MineFill Services, Inc. shows robust economics for the Starter Pit alone which is only 10% of the entire known deposit to date.
PAEE Results for Starter Pit Alone
The following pre-tax financial highlights were produced in the MineFill financial model:
- Recovered copper to cathode -- 836 million pounds
- Net cashflow - US$921.3 million
- NPV (8%) - US$511.7 million
- NPV (12%) -- US$388.0 million
- IRR -- 60.0%
- A project payback of less than two years
The economic assumptions in the PAEE were:
- Operating and capital costs as presented in Merit's June 2006 PAEE of US$0.61/lb and US$143M
- A mining rate of 30,000 tonnes per day (for the starter pit) over 10 years
- A bench-by-bench production schedule for grade and ore:waste tonnes
- The leach recoveries determined by Kappes Cassidy
- A base case copper price of US$2.00 per pound
Sensitivity analyses were carried out to test the robustness of the starter pit financial model;
- Capital and operating costs were varied at 10% increments from -20% to +20% of the base case values, which yielded IRRs in the range 76% to 56% for capex and 69% to 53% for opex
- Leach recoveries were varied by 5% either side of the base case values, which yielded IRRs in the range 58% to 62% for refractory ores and 55% to 66% for soluble ores
- Copper prices of US$1.00, US$1.25, US$1.50, US$2.00 and US$3.00 which yielded IRRs of 6.89% ($1.00) to 111.80% ($3.00).
The updated study includes a revised mineral resource estimate for Candente's 100% owned Cañariaco Norte porphyry copper deposit in northern Per̼. The study is based on the results of all drilling completed on the property to the end of December 2006. The economic evaluation focuses on initial mining of a 107 million tonnes (Mt), stand-alone starter pit. The updated resource and PAEE was completed by MineFill Services, Inc. of Vancouver B.C.. The complete Technical Report has been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and is available for inspection at the Company's offices or on the Company website (www.candente.com).
Resources
The expanded Cañariaco Norte deposit hosts a total resource 820 Mt, grading an average of 0.45% Cu above a cut-off of 0.3% Cu and containing 8.1 billion pounds of copper. Of the total resource, approximately 31% has been categorized as Measured, approximately 47% has been categorized as Indicated and the balance (22%) is Inferred. The resource comprises approximately 45% soluble copper (in oxide plus chalcocite) and approximately 55% refractory copper (in chalcopyrite). The deposit is known to be open at depth and both to the north and to the south.
Starter Pit
Within the 820 Mt resource, MineFill has optimized a higher grade Starter Pit for quick payback that contains some 104.6 Mt of Measured and Indicated resources, grading an average of 0.60% total copper and contains 1.4 billion pounds of copper. The Starter Pit resources represent approximately 10% of the total mineral resource at Cañariaco Norte.
Of the total Starter Pit resource, approximately 61% has been categorized as Measured, approximately 36% has been categorized as Indicated and the balance (3%) is Inferred. The resource comprises approximately 61% soluble copper (in oxide plus chalcocite) and approximately 39% refractory (in chalcopyrite). The average strip ratio in the Starter Pit is estimated to be 1.3:1.0 (waste:ore).
Mining, Processing and Project Development
The development model being pursued at Cañariaco Norte will utilize open pit mining (by contract), crushing, heap leaching of chalcocite, copper oxide and chalcopyrite mineralization, and a solvent extraction (SX) and electrowinning (EW) plant. LME Grade A copper cathode will be produced on site. All proposed technology is well proven and is in common use internationally.
Leach testing by Kappes, Cassiday & Associates of Reno, NV, shows 75 to 80 percent recovery of the soluble copper fraction is possible using conventional acid leaching, after 220 days. Recovery of copper from the sulphide fraction over the same period averages 40%.
Conclusions
The robust economics of the Cañariaco Norte Starter Pit warrant advancing the project to the development stage through fast-tracking of a definitive feasibility study. The scope of the feasibility study will include a trade-off study to investigate the economic viability of building and using a conventional flotation mill for processing refractory ore (predominantly chalcopyrite), following depletion of the Starter Pit resources or continuing to process all of the resources by SX-EW.
Principal contributors to the PAEE are Dr. David M. Stone, P. Eng. (President of MineFill Services, Inc.), Stephen J. Godden, C.Eng. (Director of SGA Ltd.), J. Roland Tosney, P. Eng. (MineFill Services, Inc.) and Robert van Egmond, P.Geo. (Candente Resource Corp.). The Qualified Person for this report is Dr. David M. Stone.
Candente is a diversified exploration company with copper, gold, silver, and zinc projects in Peru and Mexico. Candente subscribes to principles, which ensure that its exploration and development activities are beneficial to the local communities.
For further information, please contact Joanne Freeze in Vancouver at: (604) 689-1957 or Tom Rinaldi at 604-484-4212 or (511) 222-3603 or info@candente.com www.candente.com.
Release 207
This News Release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Candente relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements.