Minera Alamos Strengthens Position in Mexican Copper Market

Minera Alamos has revealed plans for a merger involving its Mexican subsidiary, Cobre 4H de Sonora de Mexico (Cobre), and Minera Gold Copper de Sonora (Minera Gold Copper), an independent Mexican entity. This strategic agreement entails a proportional division of share ownership, with Minera Alamos retaining 50% ownership in the Cobre subsidiary and the remaining 50% distributed among the existing shareholders of Minera Gold Copper.

The merged entity will exercise control over Minera Alamos' Los Verdes and Potreritos copper projects, alongside Minera Gold Copper's Suaqui Verde project and associated claims within the Suaqui Verde copper district. Consolidating these assets under a single subsidiary provides a unified platform for operational synergy and strategic development.

Of particular significance is the inclusion of the Suaqui Verde project in Minera Alamos' portfolio, which promises to augment the company's capacity to establish a regional copper production hub with minimal capital investment. Situated within the prolific Arizona-Sonora porphyry belt renowned for large-scale copper mining, the Suaqui Verde project is a classic porphyry copper deposit. Its strategic location just 50 kilometers west of Minera's Santana gold mine and Los Verdes copper project, coupled with existing infrastructure and proximity to personnel, enhances its operational feasibility.

Historical exploration activities, including approximately 100 drill-holes conducted since the early 1990s, will be integrated into a contemporary mineral resource assessment. Previous metallurgical evaluations and engineering studies suggest the potential for developing Suaqui Verde as a low-capital-intensity, open-pit/SX-EW copper project, with on-site production of copper metal cathode.

Minera Alamos intends to commence a fresh resource estimation exercise for Suaqui Verde, aligning with current industry standards and updating historical mineral resource assessments. Furthermore, the Los Verdes and Potreritos copper projects, situated to the northeast of the Santana gold mine, provide significant support to the strategic goals of the merger.

Los Verdes boasts a Measured+Indicated Resource Estimate of eight million tonnes, characterized by significant copper and molybdenum content. Potreritos, exhibiting comparable mineralization and featuring historical underground workings, has undergone limited modern exploration activities compared to Los Verdes. Minera is presently reassessing preliminary economic assessment designs, with a focus on optimizing initial capital requirements through the integration of ore-sorting technology. This initiative aims to enhance plant feed grades and recoveries, thereby optimizing project economics.

Furthermore, new exploration targets have been identified, including a notable geophysical anomaly suggestive of intense pyritization, along with surface copper/molybdenum samples. These targets, situated between known copper deposits, represent compelling opportunities for future resource expansion and operational optimization within the merged entity's portfolio.