Salta Exploraciones S.A. (Salta), Cascadero's 50% owned Argentine subsidiary, has entered into an Option Agreement with OZ Minerals Ltd of Australia. The Option agreement enables OZ to earn up to a 75% interest in Salta's 100% owned and optioned Centenarito group of claims by incurring US$20 million of exploration and paying US$650,000 in cash before June 2017.
The First Option, enables OZ to earn a 51% interest in the Property by completing an exploration program, at its discretion, which includes 3,000 metres of core drilling and paying US$350,000 over two (2) years. During the First Option period, the exploration program will be supported by Salta under a Services Agreement with OZ.
The Second Option, enables OZ to earn an additional 24% interest for a total of 75% in the Property by completing an exploration program under JORC or NI-43-101 guidelines by spending an additional US$20 million and paying US$300,000 over three (3) years. If OZ exercises the Second Option, Salta and OZ will enter a pro-rata industry standard Joint Venture to continue developing the Property.
The Property is located in Salta Province to the south of Santa Rosa de los Pastos Grandes, approximately 200 km west of Salta City, a two and one-half hour drive from San Antonio de los Cobres. The Property is road accessible.
CENTENARITO SHORT HISTORY and GEOLOGY
The Property was explored by Fabricaciones Militares in 1970s. The zone of interest outcrops and is marked by a prominent high-sulphidation zone with leached cap alteration assemblages. This alteration is believed related to an underlying gold-copper bearing porphyry system. The principal work on the Property consists of trenching and geochemical sampling. The Property has not been drill tested.
Centenarito is part of a north-south trend of alteration and mineralization related to intrusive rocks hosted by Ordovician sediments. The northern expression of this trend is represented by the well known Cerro Juncal porphyry. Also related to this N-S regional metalogenetic lineament is the Vicuña Muerto porphyry to the south-east. Mineralization occurs in breccias and intrusive stocks, which are part of the Oire group eruptive. The analogue properties in the area are Cerro Juncal, Inca Viejo, Incachule and Incamayo. These properties all have strongly altered diorite, dacite and granite with potential to host porphyry copper-gold deposits.
Exploration is expected get under way in September 2012.
ABOUT OZ MINERALS
OZ Minerals owns and operates the Prominent Hill open pit mine copper-gold mine, a newly developed underground mine, a grinding and flotation processing plant with an 8 mtpa capacity, a permanent village and a haulage road, power line and bore field. Prominent Hill is a fly-in/fly-out operation employing
approximately 1,200 employees and contractors. The mine is located in a remote area about 130 kms south-east of the town of Coober Pedy in South Australia.
Prominent Hill produces some of the world's highest-grade copper concentrates. These concentrates travel directly to customers including smelters in Asia and Europe via the Adelaide to Darwin railway (which passes within 116 kms of the Prominent Hill mine) to the Port of Darwin or the Port of Adelaide and then via ship to the waiting smelters. First production of Prominent Hill copper concentrates occurred in February 2009.
In its first full year of production in 2010 Prominent Hill exceeded expectations producing 112,171 tonnes of contained copper and 196,400 ounces of gold. In 2011, copper production of 107,744 tonnes and gold production of 160,007 ounces were in line with guidance of 100,000 tonnes to 110,000 tonnes of contained copper and 150,000 ounces to 160,000 ounces of gold.
OZ is a publically listed Australian company and trades at A$8.00 under the symbol OXR with a market cap of about $3 billion. The Company has an excellent exploration staff and a solid balance sheet.
Bill McWilliam
CEO
Email: bill@cascadero.com
Cell: 604-999-0391
Office: 604-924-5504
ABOUT CASCADERO COPPER
Cascadero Copper is an integrated prospecting and mineral exploration business with offices in North Vancouver, BC, Canada, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and Salta City in the province of Salta, Republic of Argentina. The Company generates, acquires and explores mineral properties and it active in the three jurisdictions.
In north central British Columbia, the Company has a 100% interest in a 31,000 hectare property in the Toodoggone region, which is prospective for copper gold porphyry systems. This property is subject to a C$20 million Joint Venture with Gold Fields.
In Ontario, the Company holds or has the right to acquire a 100% in 17 properties in the Sudbury, Swayze and Timmins camps, which are volcanic and sediment hosted copper gold prospects.
In north western Argentina, the Company holds a 50% interest in a 46 property portfolio, which consists mainly of bulk mineable copper-moly-gold porphyries and bulk mineable sediment hosted silver-gold plus base and rare metals.
In 2009, the Company discovered Taron, a large bulk mineable sediment hosted epithermal rare metal deposit in Argentina. In 2011, Cascadero discovered Las Burras, a new Argentine Cu-Mo-Au porphyry.
Cascadero's commodity focus is gold, silver, moly, copper and base and rare metal hosted in large-scale bulk mineable mineral systems.
In 2012 to 2013, Cascadero intends to advance by drilling three Argentine Cu-Mo-Au porphyry systems and continue development work in the El Oculto District, which hosts high-grade bulk mineable silver-rich systems. Exploration is also planned for Taron, an exciting large-scale sediment hosted rare metal discovery.
For more information please contact: Alan or Janice Feldman at AJF Consultants:
1207 Beach Grove Road, Tsawwassen, BC, Office = 604-948-9663 Cell = 604-377-2942
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