www.minera-irl.com
Minera IRL Limited together with its subsidiaries (the "Group") is a Latin American precious metals mining, development and exploration company. Managed by a team of experienced mining executives, the Group's business was privately funded from inception in 2000 until listing on the London AIM Market in April 2007. Minera IRL Limited is currently quoted on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:IRL), AIM London (AIM:MIRL) and the BVL, Lima, Peru (BVL:MIRL) stock exchanges.
The Group operates the Corihuarmi Gold Mine, is exploring the Ollachea Project, both of which are in Peru, and is also undertaking a feasibility study at the Don Nicolas gold project in Patagonia, Argentina.
Minera IRL share price offers an attractive entry point for investors, says FinnCap's Potts
Minera IRL’s (LON:MIRL, TSE:IRL) current share price offers an “attractive entry point” for investors seeking exposure to a low risk gold miner and explorer, according to City broker FinnCap.
Valuing the stock at 117.2 pence – almost double its current share price of 63 pence – analysts Martin Potts gave a bullish assessment of the company’s prospects.
The company owns the Corihuarmi mine in Peru, where gold production began in 2008 and is running at an annualised 30,000 ounces a year.
This is expected to rise to 150,000 oz with the commissioning of two further mines in 2013 and 2014, according to Potts.
In the meantime, a steady flow of news, including results of the feasibility study on the Don Nicolas project in Patagonia and continuing exploration at Ollachea, also in Peru, should help stir up interest in the shares, he adds.
“The current price of the stock offers an attractive entry point for investors seeking exposure to a low risk gold miner and explorer with an attractive portfolio of growth projects,” Potts said.
“Our current target price gives 95 per cent upside. In addition, we see several opportunities for our target price to be increased.
“In the near-term, the main drivers will be the de-risking of the Don Nicolas and Ollachea projects as they move towards an investment decision.
“In the medium-term, we see further upside from exploration successes, in particular at Ollachea and Michelle.”
Last month Minera announced a significant resource upgrade at its Don Nicolas project in Santa Cruz region of Argentina.
Measured and indicated resource in the combined ‘high and low grade’ category is now 381,000 ounces of gold, which represents an 89 per cent increase in these categories compared to a previous resource estimate made by Hidefield Gold in 2009.
Meanwhile Potts believes there is “considerable upside” to the size of the resource at Ollachea “to the point where the company could be of interest to a major gold producer”.
However the share price has so far failed to reflect this progress to date with Minera shares down 35 per cent in the year to date.
Potts reckons investors are missing a trick: “Minera offers exposure to a rapidly growing portfolio of gold assets in South America.
“The company's first mine has been in production for more than three years and it expects to commission two more in 2013 and 2014.
“We expect attributable production to rise from the present 30,000 ounces per year to more than 150,000 ounces per year by 2015.”
