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Caerus Mineral Resources owns 14 of Cyprus’s 27 historic copper mines, and may now be adding gold into the mix too

Published: 10:35 05 Mar 2021 GMT

Caerus Mineral Resources -

The extraction of copper on the island of Cyprus goes right back to the beginnings of recorded time. Indeed, it’s thought that the island itself is named after an ancient word for copper. And, even if that isn’t true, what is true is that Cyprus gave its name to the Roman word for copper, cuprum, from whence derives our present-day English word.

No surprises, then, that a company like Caerus Mineral Resources Ltd would go on the hunt for copper in Cyprus.

Except that, due to a variety of extenuating circumstances, not much meaningful copper exploration has actually been done on Cyprus since 1977, when the island was split in two as a result of the ongoing dispute between the Turkish inhabitants and the Greek.

Subsequent low copper prices didn’t help the industry in Cyprus get back on its feet at all, and after that, the mining industry moved its focus onto the discovery of immense, but low-grade projects, of the kind not normally found on Cyprus.

The result was a near-45 year hiatus in exploration - with a couple of honourable exceptions - and the accumulation of some serious opportunity for canny miners and investors who know where to look.

Then along came Caerus, headed up by Martyn Churchouse, an exploration geologist and former mine manager with experience working for Anglo American, Gold Fields, Lundin and Georgian Mining, among others, He speaks for a significant investment in Caerus himself and is a clear enthusiast for the opportunities presented by Cyprus. .

“Our assets are predominantly brownfield exploration,” he says. “The ground contains 14 formerly producing mines, some of which closed prematurely due to partition.”

That’s point one.

The mines on Caerus’s ground were shut not because they were depleted, but because political issues caused all work to cease. There’s still ore in those mines, some of which Caerus has already got a fairly good handle on.

Point two is that there are also a lot of dumps left over from that era, some of which may well prove to be economic to process.

And point three is that in the 45 years that have passed, exploration and mining techniques have come on leaps and bounds. There’s every likelihood that by deploying modern exploration techniques to old workings, to previously explored ground, and to greenfields projects alike, that Caerus will turn up some very interesting new results.

Accordingly, the company is shortly to list on the London Stock Exchange, following a recently completed £2.25mln fundraising which will allow it to proceed with exploration work in 2021 and beyond.

The idea initially is to focus on the brownfield sites, to build up a resource base and then see if there’s an opportunity to move towards building up some early cashflow. Exploration across the wider portfolio will follow in due course.

What we are talking about here, in general, are high grade, high margin projects, relatively small in size, but likely to deliver a very attractive return. That’s especially true in the current economic context, in which the copper price is high, and the government, mindful that the local communities have traditionally been mining-friendly, is keen to encourage new sources of tax and employment income.

But it’s not just copper.

One win that’s likely to come almost immediately is the upside that will come from adding gold into the projections for mineralisation. Back when the old mines were still being worked, the government tax on any gold credits was so onerous that hardly anybody bothered either assaying or processing it.

That means both that there may be significant gold showings to be had in the ore that remains in the ground, and that the dumps could contain elevated gold in a way that might not be expected in similar dumps elsewhere.

So all the ingredients for cooking up a successful junior mining company are in place: mining-friendly jurisdiction, attractive mineralisation, favourable commodity prices, experienced team, and wider exploration upside.

This will be one to keep a close eye on as 2021 begins to take shape.

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