Freeport operates the Timok copper gold project with a 55% interest and an affiliate of Reservoir Minerals holds the remaining 45%. Under the agreement, Lundin will acquire 100% of Freeport’s interest in the upper zone of the Cukaru Peki deposit and 28% of Freeport’s interest in the lower zone of the deposit.
Reservoir Minerals Inc. reported that its subsidiary Global Reservoir Minerals (BVI) Inc. has received a notice of sale and offer from Freeport International Holdings wherein Freeport provides notice to Reservoir of the proposed sale to Lundin Mining Corporation of an interest in Freeport International Holdings , the entity through which Freeport holds its interest in the Timok Joint Venture in Serbia, under a Joint Venture/Shareholders Agreement dated December 15, 2015 among Freeport, Reservoir and Timok JVSA (BVI) Ltd. ; and (ii) offers to sell to Reservoir on the same terms and conditions as those agreed with Lundin pursuant to Reservoir’s right of first refusal under Section 15.04 of the Joint Venture Agreement.
Reservoir has until May 3, 2016 to decide whether it will exercise its right of first refusal.
Reservoir has been in discussions with Freeport and several other parties in relation to Freeport’s interests in the Timok Joint Venture over the past few months. Reservoir is evaluating the Notice of Sale and Offer and will update the market in due course.
In July 2012, a joint venture of subsidiaries of Reservoir Minerals Inc. and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. announced the discovery of what became known as the Cukaru Peki copper-gold deposit in the heart of Serbia’s Bor mining camp, which has been operating for more than 100 years.
In January 2014, Reservoir reported inferred resources at Cukaru Peki, compliant with NI 43-101, of 65.3 million tonnes grading 2.6% copper and 1.5 g/t gold. This included 4.5 million tonnes grading 11.2% copper and 7.4 g/t of gold. Some observers speculate that the deposit could contain over a billion tonnes of mineralization grading over 1.2% copper equivalent.
Traditional down-hole geophysics did not work at Cukaru Peki because the mineralization was too rich to respond as expected. The mineralization is dominated by bornite (63% copper), chalcocite (80% copper) and covellite (50% copper). All of these minerals appear to be primary. For comparison, most of the world’s primary copper mineralization occurs as chalcopyrite (34.5% copper).
The mineralization at Cukaru Peki does not fit well with porphyry copper, VMS, or epithermal models. Its discovery may prompt explorers to search for a new class of mineral deposit.
Cukaru Peki is exceptional because it was a blind discovery in an established mining camp—it is large, of high-grade and could result in the establishment of a new geological model, providing targets for future explorers to seek.
