Candente gets initial Caariaco resource

Vancouver – Candente Resource (DNT-T) has received an initial resource estimate for its wholly owned Caariaco project in northwestern Peru.

The calculation, conducted on a portion of the Caariaco Norte zone, shows a preliminary inferred resource of 71-million tonnes grading 0.63% copper and 0.1 gram gold per tonne using a 0.4% copper cut-off grade.

The resource is based on 2,900 metres of core drilling in 15 holes, 12 of which were drilled by Candente in 2004 while three holes were from previous exploration programs in 1973 and 1995.

The initial resource covers a 14-hectare area representing about 15% of the surface expression of known copper mineralization within the zone. The Norte zone has been traced over at least 1.2 km in length and one km in width, remaining open laterally. The depth extent of mineralization also remains open to depth as evidenced by several drill holes ending in mineralization.

Norte zone copper mineralization occurs mainly as secondary chalcocite on pyrite-chalcopyrite and as primary hypogene pyrite-chalcopyrite-bornite in deeper portions of the deposit.

The 5,500 hectare Caariaco property is situated on the eastern slopes of the Andes at elevations from 2,500 to 3,200 metres and is road accessible. The project consists of three copper-gold mineralized porphyry centres, Caariaco Norte, Caariaco Sur and Quebrada Verde, being explored by Candente and previously by Placer Dome (PDG-T) in the mid-1990s and Billiton, now part of BHP Billiton (BHP-N), from 1999-2000.

The company is evaluating the Caariaco Norte zone as a potential open-pit leachable copper operation. Favourable topography coupled with a thin oxide leach cap overtop the secondary sulphide mineralization suggests a low potential strip-ratio at any possible open pit operation.

The issue rallied 11% on the news to close at 49 per share with light volume of 41,000 shares. Candente has an $18-million market capitalization based its 36.1-million shares outstanding. The company’s share price has ranged from $0.32-1.02 over the last year.