Antofagasta Regulatory News (ANTO)

14 Nov 2006 14:00

Antofagasta PLC14 November 2006 Antofagasta plc Antofagasta announces agreement with Ascendant Copper Corporation to develop the Chaucha Project in Ecuador London, 14 November 2006 Antofagasta plc ("Antofagasta") is pleased to announce that it has signed aLetter of Agreement ("Agreement") with Ascendant Copper Corporation("Ascendant"), a mining company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, to acquirean interest in Ascendant's Chaucha Project. The Chaucha Project is acopper-molybdenum prospect located in the Western Cordillera of the Andes insouthern Ecuador, approximately 70 kilometres west of the town of Cuenca. Themineral concession covers an area of 2,544 hectares with applications byAscendant in progress for further mineral concessions from the appropriategovernment entities. Under the terms of the Agreement, Antofagasta has the right to earn up to anundivided 60% interest in the Chaucha Project. The interest will be acquired byearning an equity interest in Compania Minera DosRios S.A. ("DosRios"), awholly-owned subsidiary of Ascendant which holds (or will hold) all of themineral concessions associated with the Chaucha Project. Antofagasta has committed to fund at least US$1 million of expenditure (afterwhich it has the right to terminate the Agreement at any time) and willsubsequently earn its equity interest in successive stages by spending a totalUS$40 million over a six-year period in four distinct phases of qualifyingexpenditures. These expenditures will cover exploration and advancement costsincluding, in the later phases, preparation of a feasibility study and a finalpayment on completion to Ascendant. Marcelo Awad, CEO of the mining division, Antofagasta Minerals S.A., commented,"We are very pleased to announce this agreement with Ascendant. The agreementwill further develop Antofagasta's portfolio of exploration prospects in thispart of Latin America, complementing our existing operations in Chile andrepresenting a further step in our strategy of expanding internationally." +--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+|Enquiries - London | Enquiries - Santiago |+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------+|Antofagasta plc | Antofagasta Minerals S.A.||Tel: +44 20 7808 0988 | Tel: +562 377 5070||www.antofagasta.co.uk | | | | Ricardo Muhr|| | Email: rmuhr@aminerals.cl||Desmond O'Conor | ||Email: doconor@antofagasta.co.uk | || | || | Issued by||Hussein Barma | Bankside Consultants||Email: hbarma@antofagasta.co.uk | Tel: +44 20 7367 8873|| | || | || | Keith Irons|| | Email: keith@bankside.com|+--------------------------------------+-+---------------------------------+ This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange