| November 25, 2009 |
| Alturas Signs LOI for La Corina Copper-Gold Project in Northern Chile |
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 25, 2009) - Alturas Minerals Corp. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:ALT)(BVLAC:ALT) is pleased to report that it has entered into a letter agreement with Mr. Francisco Schubert, a Chilean individual, to acquire the La Corina copper-gold project, located 70 kilometers northeast of La Serena in Region IV of northern Chile.
Paul Pearson, President and CEO of Alturas commented, "As part of Alturas's strategy of geographic diversification and opportunity-driven acquisition, La Corina represents an important development for the Company in Chile, one of Latin America's premier mining jurisdictions. The projects hosts encouraging copper-gold intersections in historic drilling and trenching confined to the western edge of a large copper-gold soil geochemical anomaly over 1.7 x 1.5 kilometers in size. The presence of abundant tourmaline-bearing breccias within the project is also encouraging, and is a geological feature common to many large porphyry deposits such as El Teniente and Los Bronces in Chile, and Toquepala and Cuajone in Peru. As part of its due diligence assessment, Alturas is currently conducting an induced polarization geophysical survey over the geochemical anomalies to define new drilling targets, and if the results are positive we will proceed with the option contract to acquire the project".
Under the terms of the letter agreement, Alturas has until December 31, 2009 to decide whether to execute a formal purchase agreement between Mr. Schubert, the underlying Owner and Alturas (the "Final Agreement") to acquire 100% of La Corina. Alturas has agreed to pay Mr. Schubert the sum of US$10,000 to conduct technical and legal due diligence and has also agreed to pay a further US$20,000 for the reimbursement of costs associated with acquiring the Property: US$10,000 upon the execution of the Letter Agreement and the balance upon the execution of the Final Agreement.
If Alturas decides to execute the Final Agreement, the Company will have the option to acquire the project over a term of four years by making staged cash payments to the Owner and share issuances to Mr. Schubert and Mr. David O'Connor. Staged cash payments to the owner would total US$ 4.05 million over the four years, including a US$ 50,000 payment upon signature. Alturas would also issue to Messrs. Schubert and O'Connor common shares of the Company in five separate tranches totaling the equivalent of US$ 500,000, including the issue of US$ 50,000 equivalent in the Company's shares upon signature.
The transaction remains subject to final Board, regulatory and TSX-V approvals of both parties, due diligence and formal legal documentation, with closing scheduled for December 31, 2009.
About the La Corina Copper-Gold project
The 859 hectare La Corina project is located 70 kilometers northeast of the city of La Serena in Region IV of northern Chile. In the La Corina area, a Paleocene volcanic complex has been intruded by Eocene intrusive rocks; strong hydrothermal alteration and mineralization are associated with the intrusive phases.
Targets at La Corina consist of bulk tonnage, low grade, copper-gold porphyries concealed beneath an extensive copper-gold in soils anomaly plus smaller tonnage, higher grade, gold-copper breccia pipes. The property has received limited historical drilling in campaigns by Phelps Dodge in 1985 (11 holes for 556 meters) and by the Chilean national agency ENAMI in 2006 (10 holes for 997 meters). All except two of these holes were drilled within a small 150 x 100 meter-sized area of weakly sulfide stockworked intrusive rock at the "Mantos de La Corina" prospect on the western edge of the 1.7 x 1.5 kilometer dimension copper-gold anomaly defined by historical exploration. The Mantos de La Corina prospect is interpreted as either a breccia pipe or an isolated fault block. The other two drill holes executed by ENAMI were drilled on the southwestern edge of the copper-gold anomalies. Historical drilling highlights are tabled below:
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Drill From Interval Copper
Hole Company Prospect (m) To (m) (m) Gold (g/t) (%)
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Mantos La
R-2 ENAMI Corina 8.05 76.00 67.95 1.11 0.46
" Mantos La
including Corina 12.00 19.00 7.00 3.85 1.31
" Mantos La
including Corina 55.00 64.00 9.00 1.94 0.81
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Mantos La
R-3 ENAMI Corina 20.00 46.00 26.00 0.52 0.37
Mantos La
Corina 60.00 70.00 10.00 0.71 0.38
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Mantos La
R-4 ENAMI Corina 112.00 118.00 6.00 0.42 0.63
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Mantos La
R-5 ENAMI Corina 62.00 76.00 14.00 0.35 0.25
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Mantos La
R-7 ENAMI Corina 63.00 78.00 15.00 0.32 0.22
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R-9 ENAMI Quebrada 25.70 26.70 1.00 8.41 0.00
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R-10 ENAMI Quebrada 31.00 45.40 14.40 0.32 0.00
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Mantos La
S-5 Phelps Dodge Corina 0.00 61.00 61.00 1.64 0.45
"
including 42.00 54.00 12.00 4.48 1.49
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Mantos La
S-6 Phelps Dodge Corina 54.00 61.00 7.00 0.73 0.26
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Mantos La
S-7 Phelps Dodge Corina 30.00 36.00 6.00 0.31 0.33
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Mantos La
S-8 Phelps Dodge Corina 2.00 38.00 36.00 0.78 0.09
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Mantos
S-9 Phelps Dodge Corina 2.00 46.00 44.00 0.84 0.24
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Mantos La
S-10 Phelps Dodge Corina 15.00 53.50 38.50 1.01 0.36
"
including 37.00 47.00 10.00 2.62 1.17
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N.B. The reader should note that the drilling exploration results shown derive only from a full review of previous exploration data and from internal reports by the different source companies, and that the assay results cited above were not able to be independently verified by rigorous QA/QC procedures. However, these data are considered relevant and will be used to guide exploration should the company proceed to acquire the project.
About Alturas Minerals Corp.
Alturas is a Canadian corporation, and is the parent of Alturas Minerals S.A. ("Alturas Peru"). Alturas Peru has been actively exploring various mineral projects in Peru since January 2004. Alturas' properties include four drill-ready mineral exploration projects located in central and southern Peru, which includes the Chapi Chapi-Utupara Copper-Gold Project, the Sombrero Copper-Gold Project, the Ccaccapaqui Gold-Silver Project and the Huajoto Gold-Silver-Zinc Project. In addition, Alturas Peru has interests in four other exploration projects in Peru. Alturas' exploration strategy is focused on the discovery of large epithermal gold mineralized deposits and copper-gold porphyry/skarn deposits in Peru and Chile. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.alturasminerals.com
As required by the National Instrument 43-101, Alturas's designated Qualified Person for the supervision of exploration of the projects is Dr. Paul Pearson, F. AUSIMM, President and CEO of the Company, who has reviewed the technical information reported in this News Release.
Should you wish to receive Company news via email, please email contact@alturasminerals.com and specify "Alturas News" in the subject line
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Cautionary Language and Forward Looking Statements
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This press release may contain "forward-looking statements", which are
subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
such statements. Investors are cautioned that such statements are not
guarantees of future performance and results. Risks and uncertainties about
the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure
documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities authorities
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The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. | |