Moly resource tabled for Getty North

Vancouver – An updated resource tally on Getty Copper‘s (GTC-V, GTCDF-O) Getty North copper porphyry deposit, located near Logan Lake in southwestern B.C., shows a significant molybdenum component the company is looking to extract by a development plan under review.

An indicated sulphide resource of 25.65 million tonnes grading 0.43% copper and 0.015% molybdenum has been tabled using a 0.2% copper cut-off grade for contained metal of about 244 million lbs. (110,000 tonnes) copper and 8.5 million lbs. molybdenum.

A previous engineering study commissioned by Getty modeled molybdenum recovery through flotation to produce a bulk concentrate that could be treated onsite by a hydrometallurgical process producing copper cathode and molybdenum trioxide through pressure oxidation leaching. The process is being reviewed part of an ongoing prefeasibility study for development of the deposit.

An additional 6.45 million tonnes of indicated oxide resource has also been reviewed averaging 0.54% copper and 0.011% molybdenum, however Getty is unsure whether the molybdenum in the oxide material is recoverable under its proposed processing plan.

Getty North also holds an inferred sulphide resource of 7.8 million tonnes at 0.35% copper but there is insufficient data to apply a molybdenum grade.

The company is in the process of also evaluating the molybdenum content at its nearby Getty South deposit where an inferred resource of 28.2 million tonnes at 0.47% copper has been reviewed for about 290 million lbs. (131,500 tonnes) of contained copper.

Getty Copper purchased 50% of Getty South from private company Robak Industries in 2003 for six million shares in a deal where it also acquired 100% of the Getty Central and Southwest properties. The agreement also has the company carrying Robak’s 50%-interest in the South project through to production. Getty owns 100% of its North deposit.

Robak, owned by Getty’s managing director John Lepinski, also retains a 1.5% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on the projects.

Situated just north of and adjacent to Teck Cominco‘s (TCK.B-T, TCK-N) Highland Valley copper mine complex, Getty Copper’s projects are within close proximity to significant existing infrastructure.

In mid-2007 the company emerged from a prolonged round of litigation involving legal disputes between the company and certain directors and consultants. A three-year RCMP investigation was closed with no recommendation for any prosecution. Getty subsequently settled its legal dispute with former directors Robert Gardner and Vittorio Preto, as well as with consultant Ross Glanville.

A 1999 project assessment report by Bateman Engineering recommended proceeding to feasibility stage on potential development of the oxide material at the North deposit. The study looked at encouraging economics for an 11 million lb. (5,000 tonne) per year cathode copper operation.

Shares of Getty Copper have recently traded around the 10-level – giving the junior a $6.8-million market capitalization based on its 67.6-million shares outstanding. The stock has a 52-week trading range of 7.5-40.