Hudbay Minerals Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, HudBay Peru S.A.C., has entered into agreements to acquire mining properties in southern Peru near its Constancia mine: an option agreement with a private Peruvian consortium to earn a 100% interest in the Caballito (formerly Katanga) and Maria Reyna mining properties; and an agreement to acquire 100% of the Kusiorcco mining properties from Panoro Minerals Ltd.
The Caballito property, located approximately 3 kilometers northwest of Constancia, is a 120-hectare (297-acre) concession block and is the site of the former Katanga mine, which was in intermittent copper oxide production from the early 1900s to the early 1990s. The Maria Reyna property, located within 10 kilometers of Constancia, is a 5,850-hectare (14,456-acre) concession block. Diamond drilling by a previous optionee of the Maria Reyna property resulted in a copper skarn-porphyry discovery. Geophysical surveys and geological mapping have also been conducted on the property and the area remains very prospective for additional discoveries. The Kusiorcco property, located within 7 kilometers of Constancia, is a 3,962-hectare (9,790-acre) concession block nearby the Caballito and Maria Reyna properties.
Hudbay is commencing permitting, community relations, and technical activities required to access and conduct drilling activities on the concessions and expects to provide further details on its exploration plans for these properties in due course. These mineral properties are situated within the regional mineralization trend of the Andahuaylas-Yauri belt and provide Hudbay with a large, contiguous block of mineral rights to explore for mineable deposits within trucking distance of the Constancia processing facility.
