Ascendant Copper Corporation and St. Genevieve Resources (SGV) have entered into a binding arrangement agreement to complete the previously announced acquisition by Ascendant of all of the common shares of SGV in exchange for up to 30 million common shares of Ascendant. “With the completion of this transaction, Ascendant will have taken a material step toward accomplishing its goal of near-term production in the Americas,” said Gary E. Davis, CEO and President of Ascendant. “The SGV portfolio includes several copper exploration properties and two near-term producing properties in the US. Over the longer term, as one or more of the SGV assets are financed and put into production, we believe our shareholders will participate in a significant increase in the value of the combined company.” Bryan Wilson, CEO & President of SGV, said, “We are excited by the prospects of this merger between Ascendant and SGV. With Ascendant’s strong management team in place, we feel near-term production at the Zonia Project and possibly Emerald Isle, is imminent.”
Highlights of the combined company:
– Geographic diversification in the US and Ecuador in terms of identified copper resources and exploration
– Stronger balance sheet to finance development of the asset portfolio, with approximately $8.84 million in cash on a pro forma basis as at September 30, 2007
– Opportunity to bring into production one or more of SGV’s near-term copper producing properties and participate in the significant upside offered by Ascendant’s existing large copper/molybdenum porphyry exploration properties n South America.
The SGV portfolio includes several copper exploration properties and highlighted by two near-term producing properties in the US
The Zonia mine property (Prescott, Arizona) comprises over 1,200 ha and produced 33 Mlb of copper from 1966 to 1975 by heap leaching. A recent NI 43-101 Technical Report (October 16, 2006) by Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle Associates (RPA) provides an independent estimate of an inferred mineral resource of 63 Mt averaging 0.37% total Cu (at a cutoff grade of 0.25% Cu) containing an estimated 460 Mlb of copper. Gustavson Associates, contracted by Ascendant, as part of the due diligence process, estimates that the Zonia property can be put back into production within 24 months producing approximately 20 Mlb/y of copper for 17 years. A feasibility study for this project was prepared in 1994 by a previous owner which included significant technical, environmental and permitting information. While much of this prior work is outdated, it serves as good baseline data as management formulates a plan to advance this project as quickly as possible.
For Emerald Isle (Kingman, Arizona), RPA also prepared a NI 43-101 technical report in March 2006 based on historical drilling and concluded that the property contains 2.3 Mt grading 0.625% Cu (at a cutoff grade of 0.30% Cu) with an Indicated resource of 27.5 Mlb of copper. Behre Dolbear recently completed a prefeasibility study demonstrating the viability of this operation at current copper prices. Management believes that the Emerald Isle mine can be in production within 12 months, producing approximately 5 Mlb/y of copper for four years, and is currently reviewing this alternative.
