Junior Secures Option on Chile Copper Project With Major Neighbors

Norseman Silver Inc. (NOC:TSX.V; NOCSF:OTCQB) announced it has secured an exclusive option to acquire 100% of the Caballos copper project in the Valparaiso region of Chile near other major high-producing copper mines.

The company said the project is located on the flanks of a geological belt stretching from Antofagasta Plc's (ANTO:LSE) Los Pelambres mine to Anglo American Plc's (AAUK:NASDAQ) Los Bronces mine. Los Pelambres has an endowment of 36 million tonnes of contained copper, and Los Bronces has 44 million tonnes.

"Norseman is exploring in the land of giants, and there is an ongoing shortage of large copper assets with good grade, clean metallurgy, and simple geometry," Norseman Chairman and Director Campbell Smyth said. "Caballos is a strategic land holding with abundant copper, gold, and molybdenum mineralization in the world's premier copper jurisdiction."

Michael Ballanger of GGM Advisory Inc. wrote that he has been "haranguing my poor subscribers" to look at the stock since it traded as low as CA$0.035 on Oct. 3. It was trading at CA$0.135 on Thursday afternoon.

Michael Ballanger of GGM Advisory Inc. wrote that he has been "haranguing my poor subscribers" to look at the stock since it traded as low as CA$0.035 on Oct. 3. It was trading at CA$0.135 on Thursday afternoon.

"There is news coming shortly, and once it is out in the open, you will appreciate the changes being made and the quality of management that I have been referencing since early 2020," wrote Ballanger. "They got caught in an unfortunate downdraft that started four months before the stock peaked at CA$0.76 in February 2021 and have had to endure a brutal bear market in precious metals juniors since then . . . But you definitely want to own it."

The Catalyst: Drilling Set for 2024

Norseman said it secured the option from Asesorias y Inversiones J.V&A. Ltda and Inversiones y Asesorias Doce S.A. Caballos comprises 18,000 hectares of concessions at an average altitude of 2,200 meters and is 210 kilometers by road from Santiago.

The project features anomalous copper in several zones along a 10-kilometer structural corridor, coincident soil, and geophysical anomalies that form a large target at "Cerro Las Mulas," which hosts mineralization at the surface, Norseman said.

“The geology at the Cerro Las Mulas target is indicative of being in the core of a porphyry system," noted Merlin Marr-Johnson, technical advisor to the company. "Well-defined soil and geophysical anomalies match the outline of a felsic intrusive hosting secondary K-feldspar and biotite stockworks. The intrusion shows disseminated chalcopyrite and copper oxides at surface. The intrusion is highly anomalous and extends 1000 (meters by) 200 (meters) at surface, supporting an exploration target of 1 million tonnes of contained copper."

Past exploration on the property includes a stream sediment survey corresponding to the southern part of Caballos that returned 409 parts per million (ppm) copper in the 1990s, a geophysical survey in the north, and rock and soil samples taken in 2004 and 2011.

Norseman said it is preparing 12 holes averaging 250 meters each in the second half of 2024.

Option Terms

The terms of the option require that the work program be completed, consisting of at least US$1 million of project work, including 3,000 meters of drilling in the first year and at least US$4 million of project work in years two through four.

Norseman can exercise the option by making a US$2 million payment to the vendors in the fifth year. A further bullet payment to the vendors is due at the point of a construction decision being made, comprising US$2 per tonne of contained copper within compliant National Instrument 43-101 defined resources. The vendors are also granted a 3% net smelter return (NSR), of which 1.5% can be purchased by Norseman for US$7.5 million at any point prior to a construction decision being made.

The company also holds properties in British Columbia and Rio Negro, Argentina. It says the four projects in British Columbia, including Cariboo, are highly prospective of silver and copper mineralization.

The four projects in British Columbia are highly prospective of silver and copper mineralization, Norseman said.

Taquetren in Argentina has discovery potential in a mining-friendly district that is host to one of the largest silver deposits in the world. Permits have been obtained to start geological, prospecting, and geochemical sampling.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to Reuters, about 15% of the company is owned by strategic investors. The rest is retail.

Top shareholders include CloudBreak Discovery Corp. with 6.93%, Chairman Smyth owns 6.24%, and company President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director Sean Hurd owns 1.76%, Reuters reported.

Norseman has a market cap of CA$8.85 million, with 68.12 million shares outstanding. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.18 and CA$0.035.

Important Disclosures:

1. Norseman Silver Inc. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$4,000 and US$5,000.
2. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Norseman Silver Inc.
3. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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