Entrée Gold to Acquire 0.5% NSR Royalty From Candente Copper

Entrée Gold Inc. (TSX:ETG) entered into a binding Letter of Intent with Candente Copper Corp. for 0.5% net smelter returns royalty on the Cañariaco project in Peru. The purchase price for the Royalty is US$500,000.
In an NI 43-101 technical report filed in March 2011, Candente stated that the Cañariaco Norte deposit contains mineral resources of approximately 3.6 billion pounds of copper in the Measured category, and 3.9 billion pounds of copper in the Indicated category.
As quoted in the press release:

The Cañariaco project includes the Cañariaco Norte copper-gold-silver deposit, as well as the adjacent Cañariaco Sur and Quebrada Verde prospects, located within the western Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes in the Department of Lambaveque, Northern Peru.
… In March 2011, Candente filed a National Instrument 43-101 technical report titled “Cañariaco Project, Lambayeque Department, Peru, NI 43-101 Technical Report on Pre-Feasibility Study Progress Report”. The effective date of the report is January 18, 2011 and it was prepared by AMEC Americas Limited (now Amec Foster Wheeler). The Cañariaco Norte deposit is reported to contain mineral resources of approximately 3.6 billion pounds of copper in the Measured category (338 million tonnes (“Mt”) grading 0.48% copper, 0.08 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold and 2.0 g/t silver), 3.9 billion pounds of copper in the Indicated category (414 Mt grading 0.43% copper, 0.06 g/t gold and 1.7 g/t silver), and 1.4 billion pounds of copper in the Inferred category (158 Mt grading 0.41% copper, 0.06 g/t gold and 1.7 g/t silver), using a 0.3% copper cut-off.
The report envisions an open pit mine with 95,000 tonnes per day mill throughput using a conventional crush/grind and flotation recovery process. Over the Life-Of-Mine, the project is reported to produce an average of approximately 262 million pounds of copper per year, along with 37,000 ounces of gold and 850,000 ounces of silver. Development capital to build the project is estimated to be US$1.6 billion. The mine plan is based on Measured and Indicated mineral resources only, with Inferred mineral resources considered as waste.
Based on the 30% corporate income tax rate enacted in Peru in 2011, the base case, after-tax net present value of Cañariaco Norte, using an 8% discount rate, is reported by Candente to be US$912 million, using US$2.25/pound copper, US$1,015/ounce gold and US$15.85/ounce silver. The base case after-tax internal rate of return is reported to be 17.2% with a 4.4 year pay-back period and an initial mine life of 22 years. On December 31, 2014, the Government of Peru passed a tax reform law that includes a reduction in corporate income tax rates from 30% to 26% over four years, which is not reflected in the economic analysis.

Entrée Gold President and CEO, Greg Crowe, said:

We are excited to be presented with this opportunity to acquire a royalty on the Cañariaco project in Peru. Like our Ann Mason deposit in Nevada, Cañariaco Norte is a large scale, open pittable, long life porphyry copper deposit located in an extremely desirable jurisdiction.
Cañariaco Norte, Cañariaco Sur and Quebrada Verde all lie within a prolific trend of producing mines and known deposits. Candente has a strong management team that is steadily advancing Cañariaco Norte to Feasibility, and we believe the project is well positioned for eventual development.

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