Peru Copper reports 2005 year end financial results
2006年4月1日 - 7:39AM
PRニュース・ワイアー (英語)
VANCOUVER, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peru Copper Inc.
(TSX:PCR / AMEX:CUP / BVL:CUP) ("Peru Copper" or the "Company")
today filed its financial results for the year ended December 31,
2005. Complete financial statements will be included in the
Company's 2005 Annual Report to be mailed to shareholders. All
monetary amounts are expressed in United States dollars unless
otherwise stated. Peru Copper is involved in the acquisition and
exploration of potentially mineable deposits of copper in Peru. On
June 11, 2003, Peru Copper entered into the Toromocho Option
Agreement ("Toromocho Option") with Empresa Minera del Centro del
Peru S.A. ("Centromin"), a Peruvian state-owned mining company,
whereby Centromin granted the Company the option to acquire its
interest in the mining concessions and related assets of the
Toromocho Project. Financial Results ----------------- The Company
prepares its financial statements in accordance with accounting
policies and practices generally accepted in Canada ("Canadian
GAAP") and in U.S. dollars. In 2005, the Company recorded a loss of
$3.4 million as compared to a loss of $0.3 million in 2004. Peru
Copper's administration expenses increased to $4.2 million for
2005, from $0.5 million for the 2004 year, primarily as a result of
new operating expenses incurred from the increase in corporate
activities and an increase in stock-based compensation. Peru Copper
expenses all costs not directly related to its exploration and
drilling efforts at the Toromocho Project. The Company capitalizes
all stock-based compensation of the vesting of options to employees
and consultants that work directly on the Toromocho Project. All
other stock-based compensation is expensed. In the current year,
stock-based compensation of $1.8 million was expensed in respect to
the vesting of options to directors, officers, employees and
consultants, compared to $0.7 million 2004. Accounting and legal
fees increased to $1.0 million primarily due to the costs
associated with meeting filing obligations in Canada as well as the
United States, including F-1 amendments and preparation of SOX 404
compliance. Additionally, Peru Copper incurred salary and director
fees of $0.6 million during the year, compared to $0.2 million in
2004. In 2004, the Company experienced a foreign exchange gain,
which resulted from the period of time between the Company
receiving funds from the IPO in Canadian dollars and the transfer
of these dollars into US funds. These expenses were offset by $0.8
million of interest earned on cash balances. The Company maintains
its cash and short-term, low risk investments in institutions with
high credit worthiness. All of the Company's $17.2 million of
exploration expenses during 2005 have been capitalized under
Canadian GAAP as exploration properties and all administration
expenses of the Company have been expensed. Included in the $17.2
million are: $6.2 million for drilling of 88,100 meters; salaries
and consulting of $3.6 million; supplies and general of $2.5
million; value added tax of $1.7 million; assays and sampling of
$1.2 million; advance royalty payment of $1.0 million; stock-based
compensation of $0.5 million; acquisition and lease of $0.3 million
and other costs of $0.2 million. The Company has 58 employees and
several consultants working on the Toromocho Project. Liquidity and
Capital Resources ------------------------------- Peru Copper had
cash and cash equivalents of $26.7 million at December 31, 2005 as
compared with $40.7 million at December 31, 2004. On December 31,
2005, $24.2 million was held in US dollars. Peru Copper had a
working capital of $27.7 million and $41.4 million as at December
31, 2005 and December 31, 2004, respectively. From January 1, 2006
to March 27, 2006, the Company received cash proceeds of $ 40.4
million on the exercise of 20,113,100 common share purchase
warrants and 155,000 share purchase options. Exploration and
Development Program ----------------------------------- On February
9, 2006, the Company announced the completion of its pre-
feasibility study on the Toromocho Project. At an estimated average
annual production rate of 272,788 tonnes of copper and 5,387 tonnes
of molybdenum, the pre-feasibility study estimates a Net Present
Value (NPV) of US$814 million from commencement of construction and
an after-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 16.0%. Base
assumptions include a copper price of $1.10/lb.; a molybdenum price
of $10.00/lb.; a silver price of $6.50/oz.; a discount rate of 8%;
capital costs of $1.524 billion; and a daily production rate of
150,000 tonnes per day of mill ore to the primary crushers. On
March 6, 2006, the Company announced a new independent mineral
reserve and resource estimate for its Toromocho Project. The
Toromocho Project now has 1.26 billion tonnes of proven and
probable reserves at an average copper equivalent of 0.68% and an
additional 715 million tonnes as measured and indicated resource at
an average copper equivalent of 0.70%. The resulting total reserve
and resource estimate of 1.976 billion tonnes is an increase of 142
million tonnes over the previously announced measured and indicated
resource of 1.834 billion tonnes. The study also reported 151
million tonnes of inferred mineralized material at an average
copper equivalent of 0.61%. Toromocho is now estimated to have 22
billion pounds of contained copper and over 840 million pounds of
molybdenum. On March 20, 2006, the Company announced that it had
signed an agreement which will give it an option to acquire the
Morococha mining concessions, surface areas and assets of Austria
Duvaz, a privately held Peruvian mining company. PCI will pay
U.S.$1.0 million for a six-month option period during which a due
diligence review will be made of the Austria Duvaz holdings,
facilities and operations. After the due diligence period, the
Company will have the right, but not the obligation, to sign
another option agreement to purchase all of the Austria Duvaz
assets within a period of up to five years. On March 27, 2006, the
Company filed an updated Technical Report based on the results of
the recent pre-feasibility study for the Company's Toromocho
Project. The technical report was prepared by Independent Mining
Consultants Inc. ("IMC") of Tucson, Arizona. Changes in the
Technical Report result in an increase in the estimated Net Present
Value ("NPV") of the Company's Toromocho Project from US$814
million to US$922 million and increase in the estimated Internal
Rate of Return ("IRR") from 16.0% to 16.7% (both on an after tax
basis) when compared to the NPV and IRR reflected in the
pre-feasibility study. Other Information ----------------- A copy
of the Company's financial statements and related notes for the
period ended December 31, 2005, together with Management's
Discussion and Analysis of financial condition and results of
operations have been filed on SEDAR and are available at
http://www.sedar.com/ and on the Company's web site at
http://www.perucopper.com/. Peru Copper was formed for the purpose
of exploring and developing the Toromocho copper project located in
Peru. The rights to the project were acquired by the Company
through a privatization carried out by the Peruvian government in
mid 2003. Toromocho is a large porphyry copper deposit with
molybdenum and silver credits located in the Morococha mining
district of central Peru. For a more extensive description of the
Company's activities, please refer to the Company's web site at
http://www.perucopper.com/. Peru Copper has filed a National
Instrument 43-101 technical report regarding the pre-feasibility
study. Mr. John Marek, Professional Engineer, of IMC is the
independent "qualified person", within the meaning of National
Instrument 43-101, that prepared the updated mineral resource
estimate and he has reviewed and approved the content of this press
release. For sampling and assaying information please refer to the
IMC Technical Report dated August 25th, 2004 which is available on
SEDAR (http://www.sedar.com/). Mr. J.W. Gulyas, Professional
Engineer, of SNC-Lavalin is the independent "qualified person",
within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, that reviewed and
approved the engineering report on the process plant. Dr. Martin C.
Kuhn, P.E. of MAG is the independent "qualified person" within the
meaning of National Instrument 43-101 that prepared the report of
metallurgical investigations and has reviewed and approved the
disclosures of applicable metallurgical data. For further
information please contact Patrick De Witt, Director of Investor
Relations at (604) 689-0234 or . Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors
- The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S.
mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only
those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally
extract or produce. We use certain terms in this press release,
such as "mineral deposit", that the SEC guidelines strictly
prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings
with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the
disclosure in our Form F-1 Registration Statement, File No.
333-121527, which may be secured from us, or from the SEC's website
at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements in this release that are forward-looking statements are
subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific
factors identified in the Peru Copper Inc. periodic filings with
Canadian Securities Regulators. Such forward-looking information
represents management's best judgment based on information
currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed
and actual future results may vary materially. Peru Copper does not
assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Safe
Harbor Statement under the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for the statements of
historical fact contained herein, the information presented
constitutes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those with
respect to the price of copper, the timing of completion of
exploration activities and the determination and amount of
estimated mineral resources involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievement of Peru Copper Inc. to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such
factors include, among others, risks related to the exploration and
potential development of the properties owned by the company, risks
related to international operations, the actual results of current
exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations,
changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined,
future prices of copper, silver, molybdenum and gold, as well as
those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in
the Form F-1 as on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission
in Washington, D.C. Although Peru Copper Inc. has attempted to
identify important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results
not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no
assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE:
Peru Copper Inc. CONTACT: Patrick De Witt, Director of Investor
Relations at (604) 689-0234 or .
Copyright