Libero Copper and Gold Corp. (LBC:TSX.V; LBCMF:OTCQB) has entered into a cooperation agreement with the community of Montclar, Colombia, near its Mocoa copper-molybdenum project.
The “Cooperation Framework Agreement for Participation and Generation of Shared Benefits” was signed unanimously by all board members and supported by the signatures of over 95% of the families in Montclar, the only community near the deposit.
“Mocoa hosts the largest copper resource within the country and is the only strategic metals project in the department of Putumayo,” Red Cloud Securities wrote in its Rocks Daily newsletter on Nov. 30. “We view this as a positive step toward advancing the project which could potentially help additional exploration and future drilling efforts.”
Additional discoveries and resource expansion at Mocoa are “two factors we believe are key to a potential rerating of Libero’s stock price,” the newsletter said.
A diamond drill hole at Mocoa, which was discovered in 1973, returned 0.89% copper equivalent [CuEq] (0.62% copper and 0.083% molybdenum) over 557 meters, and the entire hole graded 0.58% CuEq (0.42% Cu and 0.047% Mo) over 1,229 meters, the company announced.
Red Cloud analyst Taylor Combaluzier has rated Libero Buy with a target of CA$1.40.
The Catalyst: The Red Metal
Copper is one of the rulers of the new green economy. Electric vehicles (EVs) would not exist as they are now without it; they use three times the amount of copper as cars with internal combustion engines.
One out of five vehicles sold worldwide could be an EV in less than two years, and Ford and General Motors have set a goal of achieving 40–50% of their sales from EVs in the U.S. by 2030.
Combaluzier with Red Cloud said upcoming catalysts like drill results from Mocoa and the issuing of permits at Esperanza give Libero’s share price room to grow.
This is expected to cause demand for copper to rise 16% and outstrip supply by more than 6 million tonnes by the end of the decade, according to independent energy research company Rystad Energy.
The transition to clean energy is expected to bring 10.3 million new jobs globally by 2030, the World Economic Forum noted in March. That increase will offset the 2.7 million jobs expected to be cut in fossil fuels.
“The energy demand moving forward is so big, we cannot continue down this route,” Libero Chief Executive Officer Ian Harris said. “So, it’s a done deal. It’s something that’s going to be happening in some form.”
Esperanza Restart in Final Stages
Libero is also drilling 5,000 meters at its Big Red property in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle and working with authorities on permits to begin drilling at its Esperanza project in Argentina.
This month, Libero announced it had built strong relationships with the community in Argentina as well as it works to restart exploration at its Esperanza porphyry copper-gold project in San Juan. Recently, representatives from the Ministry of Mines visited the site to confirm conditions there.
“The company reported it has the support of the local community and is in its final stages of restarting the project,” Rocks Daily noted.
Historically, only 7,691 meters have been drilled on the project. There were two main phases of exploration at the site between 2007 and 2018, including a hole that returned 0.57% copper (Cu) and 0.27 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 387 meters, including 0.74% Cu and 0.33 g/t Au over 232 meters. The holes were not followed up on due to market conditions.
Libero is earning into a 70% joint venture interest in the project with Latin Metals at Esperanza.
The company said it has been holding regularly scheduled meetings with local landowners and authorities.
Harris said the company transfers its own values to the community, such as “responsibility and respect, and an operating philosophy of being a good neighbor.”
“What you find is almost an adoption of that same value system by the communities themselves,” he said. “It becomes a part of their DNA. And then it leads to these highly collaborative relationships.”
Combaluzier with Red Cloud said upcoming catalysts like drill results from Mocoa and the issuing of permits at Esperanza give Libero’s share price room to grow.
“We believe the recent high-grade drill results and identification of new targets at Mocoa could help to upgrade existing resources and expand the deposit — two factors we believe are key to a potential re-rating of Libero’s stock price,” Combaluzier wrote. “Furthermore, drilling programs at Big Red and Esperanza . . . provide additional exploration upside potential.”
Ownership, Coverage, and Share Structure
Top shareholders of Libero include Anglo Asian Mining Plc. with 19.6%, Ian Slater with 4%, Sprott Asset Management LP with 1.36%, Palos Management Inc. with 0.68%, and Robert Pease with 0.63%, according to Reuters and the company.
The company is covered by Taylor Combaluzier of Red Cloud Securities and newsletter writers Clive Maund of Clivemaund.com, Bob Moriarty of 321gold.com, David Forest of International Speculator, Brien Lundin of the Gold Newsletter (Jefferson Financial), and Gwen Preston of Resource Maven. Click "See More Live Data" in the data box above to view more of what they are saying.
Its market cap is CA$10.93 million, and it has 73.8 million shares outstanding, 57 million of them free floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$1.05 and CA$0.14.
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