Phelps Dodge exits deal

Copper producer Phelps Dodge (PD-N) has withdrawn from a previously announced deal with Stratabound Minerals (SB-V), under which it would have earned an interest in the Monarca zinc project in north-eastern Mexico’s Coahuila state.

Stratabound states that Phelps Dodge had informed Stratabound’s management that “changes in senior management” were responsible for the company’s change of plan. In June the two companies had agreed to an option deal, with Phelps Dodge funding the junior company’s exploration work.

Sampling by both companies in the La Monarca area, where a number of zinc-lead-silver deposits were mined in the early part of the 20th century, indicated several zones of high-grade zinc-oxide mineralization in stratiform and “chimney” styles. Phelps Dodge estimated that the mineralized zones ranged from a few centimetres to 20 metres in width.