Oroco announces $13.6 million copper financing
Oroco Resources Corp. [OCO-TSXV, ORRCF-OTC] is raising $13.6 million from a private placement financing that will be used to fund continued exploration at the company’s Santo Tomas copper-molybdenum-gold project in northwest Mexico.
Oroco says the Santo Tomas hosts a significant copper porphyry deposit defined by prior exploration spanning the period between 1968 to 1994. During that time, the property was tested by over 100 diamond and reverse circulation drill holes, covering 30,000 metres.
Based on data generated by these drill programs, a historical prefeasibility study was completed by Bateman Engineering in 1994.
The company said the funds are being raised via an offering of 8.0 million units priced at $1.70 per unit, each consisting of one common share and one share purchase warrant, each of which will entitle the holder to purchase one Oroco common share at $2.40 for 24 months from the date of closing.
Closing is expected to occur on March 15, 2022.
Oroco holds a net 73.2 interest in the collective 1,172.9-hectare Core Concession of the Santo Tomas project, which is located within 160 kilometres of the Pacific deep-water port at Topolobampo
The company also holds a 77.5% interest in 7,807.9 hectares of mineral concessions surrounding and adjacent to the Core Concessions (for a total project area of 22,192 acres).
The project is situated within the Santo Tomas District, which extends from Santo Tomas up to the Jinchuan Group’s Bahuerachi project, approximately 14 kilometres to the north east.
A pre-feasibility study completed by Bateman Engineering Inc. completed in 1994 contemplated mining rates of up to 120,000 tonnes per day, producing up to 300 million pounds of copper annually, plus quantities of gold and silver, in a high-quality concentrate.
Conventional open pit mining, hauling and ore benefication technology are addressed in the study, with no design risks identified or implied.
However, the company considers these historical studies and associated mineral resource estimates to be conceptual in nature only, until confirmed by current technical programs.
The Santo Tomas deposit is an example of the geologic style of Laramide-age porphyry copper deposits in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Historical pre-feasibility studies, recent 3D modelling of historical drilling and several new programs of geophysical surveying have defined drill targets both for confirmation of historical mineral resource estimates and for exploration for additional resources.
In July, 2021, Oroco said it had launched an initial drill program aimed at confirming the presence of historically defined polymetallic copper mineralization and to begin the development of new mineral resources. It said initial holes were collared in the North Zone.
Drilling in 2021 commenced on the central North Zone mineral deposit and has now spanned 600 metres of strike length on the North Zone, the company said recently
On March 10, 2022, Oroco shares closed at $1.84 and now trade in a 52-week range of $3.66 and $1.74.