Camino shares surge as Rio Tinto takes position next to its Peru copper project

Junior copper explorer Camino Corp. (TSXV: COR) saw a surge in its stock trading volume on Wednesday after reporting that global miner Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) has staked copper claims next to the company’s Los Chapitos project in Peru.

Los Chapitos is an IOCG (iron oxide-copper-gold) style of deposit. IOCG mineralization extends down the Peruvian coast into Chile, with notable deposits in the region including Mina Justa, found in southern Peru, and the Mantos Blancos and La Candelaria mines located on the Chilean side.

Mina Justa — held by a joint venture of Peru’s Minsur and Chile’s Copec — represents one of the world’s newest copper mines, entering production in 2021 with a capital cost of US$1.6 billion. It is located in a copper mineralized region 100 km north of the Los Chapitos district.

Camino optioned Los Chapitos in 2016 and now holds about 220 sq km. Drilling in 2017-2018 led to the identification of near-surface oxide copper manto and deeper high-grade sulphide mineralization.

Earlier this year, the company partnered up with Japan’s Nittetsu Mining Co. on exploration at Los Chapitos. Nittetsu currently operates the Atacama Kozan copper mine in northern Chile that was developed from an IOCG style deposit similar to Los Chapitos.

“A major copper company like Rio Tinto entering the Los Chapitos district is another strong indicator that Camino’s geological research and exploration initiatives, in collaboration with our partner Nittetsu Mining Ltd., are significant,” Jay Chmelauskas, CEO of Camino, said in a press release.

Concurrent with Rio Tinto’s staking, Camino said it has also increased its claims at the Los Chapitos property by an additional 10 sq km. The company recently identified the deep-seated La Estancia fault that extends for 12 km in a northwest direction.

According to Camino, the new land position by Rio Tinto follows the extension of this fault towards the north. In addition, diversified miner South32 (ASX: S32) has an earn-in strategic alliance on the ground immediately north of Los Chapitos.

“With the largest land position and our next drilling campaign planned to commence in December, Camino is currently the most active operator to make additional copper discoveries in the under-explored Los Chapitos district,” Chmelauskas added.

Camino’s shares ended the day 22.2% higher at 5.5¢ apiece, for a market capitalization of $9.5 million. The stock traded within a range of 3¢ and 12¢ over the past 52 weeks.