Candente Extends Depth of Canariaco

Vancouver — Candente Resource’s (DNT-T, CDOUF-O) drill effort on its Canariaco Norte copper project, in northwestern Peru, has turned in some long mineralized intercepts and points towards the deposit’s expansion potential.

Four recent holes collared on the northern half of the deposit returned up to 701.5 metres (from 65 metres down-hole depth) of 0.59% copper, ending in mineralization. The wide intercept, from hole 141, included a 292-metre interval of 0.7% copper.

The four deep holes have pushed the vertical extension of the Canariaco Norte deposit to at least 968 metres; it remains open at depth.

Candente moved its project to the feasibility stage in May. Earlier this year, the company released an estimate that pegged measured and indicated resources at Canariaco Norte at 642.8 million tonnes grading 0.456% copper (about 6.5 billion contained pounds copper) using a 0.3% copper cutoff. The deposit also hosts 177.2 million inferred tonnes averaging 0.42% copper (1.6 billion contained pounds).

The company is eyeing a potential 2009 production scenario for the project. A recent preliminary assessment and economic evaluation modelled a starter-pit zone of 107 million tonnes of near-surface mineralization averaging 0.6% copper (about 1.4 billion contained pounds copper) with a projected 1.3:1 waste-to-ore stripping ratio.

Canariaco Norte is the more advanced of three main porphyry bodies on Candente’s ground, all of which occur along an 8-km-long structural trend. Mineralization consists of pyrite-rich copper and gold in disseminations and stockworks hosted in fine-grained andesitic porphyries and dacitic tuffs that have undergone alteration from multiple igneous and magmatic hydrothermal breccia events. The deposit is covered by a 15- to 30-metre leach cap.

Shares of Candente inched up 3 on the drill results to close at $1.62 apiece. Based on its 69.5 million shares outstanding, the company posts a market capitalization of $113 million. The stock has a 52-week trading range of 75-$2.09.