Aftermath Silver Ltd (TSX-V:AAG, OTCQX:AAGFF) CEO Ralph Rushton talked with Proactive about the company completing the acquisition of the Berenguela project in southern Peru, which is now 100% owned by Aftermath.
Rushton confirmed the complex legal process has concluded, allowing the company full control over the asset.
The Berenguela project is a large silver-copper-manganese deposit, and the company is currently in its third phase of drilling. Rushton noted that the team is targeting both exploration zones and areas related to future infrastructure. He highlighted specific drill targets, including a copper zone on the eastern side and a copper-gold target in the southwest.
Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. And joining me now is Ralph Rushton. He is the CEO of Aftermath Silver. And Ralph, it's great to see you again. How are you?
Ralph Rushton: I'm good. Happy New Year to you all.
Yeah, Happy New Year to you as well. The company is out with some news talking about completing the official acquisition. So, the Berenguela project is now under your thumb, so to speak. Maybe just talk about that milestone for the company.
Yeah, that's correct. The process started in 2020 when we first announced the acquisition of the project, so it's been a long time coming. We've had to make a series of staged payments along the way — about $21 million Canadian in cash and shares — and that's all been wrapped up. We had some fairly complicated legal work to go through to actually transfer the ownership of the project to us, but that's now done and dusted. As of the end of December, it's 100% owned by Aftermath. So that's that for us — it's nice to have full control over the asset.
It's an important asset for the company as well. Just remind everyone a little bit about it, and sort of the work that's been done up to this particular point.
It's a large silver-copper-manganese project in southern Peru. We're currently drilling — we're on our third phase — doing some exploration drilling and drilling around potential infrastructure points for mine planning. I'll be going down to review that at the end of this month with some colleagues. It's a potential source of silver and copper metal. As of yesterday, copper hit an all-time high price, so the timing is good for us. Manganese is also a crucial battery metal. So we have three potential products — all of which seem to be flying high in the commodities markets right now.
When you talk about the drilling part of it, you said you're still drilling right now. It's sort of three key objectives you're looking for — can you highlight what you're hoping the drilling will tell you?
Yeah, we have some additional exploration targets on the project that we'd like to put some holes into. One is a copper target on the eastern side of the project, and the other is a copper-gold target towards the southwest. We've also gone into areas where we're looking at key infrastructure, and we'd like to collect some sample material for additional metallurgical test work.
With the funding we completed in December — we raised about $20 million — we're now fully funded and can push on with engineering studies over the next 12 months. Hopefully, we'll get this to the point where the market appreciates the valuation as much as we do.
And lastly, Ralph, having 100% ownership in the project gives you so much more flexibility — being able to make decisions without having to consult anyone. That's a key part of this, right?
It is. For example, the concession package we hold down there — there are certain areas we don't believe have potential or are needed for future mining infrastructure. We're now in a position where we can reduce those landholdings and their associated holding costs accordingly. That’s the kind of stuff we can now do without needing to consult with partners.
Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity