Candente launching feasibility study in Peru

Vancouver – Candente Resources (DNT-T) is launching a study to determine the feasibility of building a US$150 million heap leach mine at its Canariaco property in northern Peru.

Candente chief executive officer Joey Freeze said the company is pushing hard to catch the current bull market for copper, by getting the property into production by 2009, at an initial rate of 30,000 tonnes-per-day.

We want to get into production with a medium sized heap leach operation and wait for payback, said Freeze in an interview. She estimated that the junior could recoup its costs within three years, as long as copper is trading above US$1.50 a pound.

The latest resource estimate, [according to results of an independent study released March 4] indicates that Canariaco contains 8.1 billion pounds of copper. Thats up from an earlier estimate of 4.8 billion pounds.

The stock reacted by easing 2 to $1.40 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, March 5..

We are talking to a lot of people about strategic partnerships, said Freeze, when asked if the company plans to go it alone in bringing the project into production. However, she said the company retains the option to do all the financing inside Peru.

Candente is the sole owner of the Canariaco property, having secured the rights in a government auction back in 2002.

The Canariaco property is located in the Peruvian Andes, about 700 kilometres northwest of Lima, the capitol of Peru. The concessions lie at elevations ranging between 2,660 metres and 3,600 metres above sea level., where the topography is generally steep and covered by tropical rain forest below 3,000 metres.

The latest analysis from December drilling suggests the property contains 820 million tonnes of ore grading 0.45% copper, with more certain measured and indicated resource categories making up 78% of the orebody. That suggests contained metal of up to 8.1 billion pounds of copper.

The previous estimates had the property containing 489 million tonnes of ore, the company said.

The new resource estimate is based on 82 holes drilled by Candente in December. As of last week, the company had drilled 101 holes on the deposit.

Drilling continues to both expand the size of the deposit laterally and vertically and move inferred resources into the indicated and measured categories,” the company said.

The feasibility study will initially focus on the economics of building a starter pit, for quick payback. It will also attempt to determine whether the operation should continue with only leaching or add components for conventional milling, once payback has been achieved.

Candente is a diversified mineral explorer with copper, gold, silver and zinc projects n Peru and Mexico.