Copper climbed above the psychological US$5,000 per tonne level last week, as positive economic sentiment buoyed demand expectations, while a weaker dollar also supported prices. Some commentary on what the declining value of the US dollar means is in order. The key take-away here is that it is becoming cheaper for mining companies to operate in the US in terms of costs. There is a growing operational advantage to miners who purchase equipment and incur labour costs within the US.
In 2007 Arizona was the leading copper-producing state in the US, producing 750 thousand tonnes of copper, worth a record $5.54 billion. Arizona's copper production was 60% of the total for the US. Copper mining also produces gold and silver as byproducts. Byproduct molybdenum from copper mining makes Arizona the nation's second-largest producer of that metal. The oxide portion of porphyry copper systems in the SW USA typically have cut-off grades from 0.04% Cu to 0.10% Cu, depending on leach characteristics.
Many copper mines in Arizona have been in production for over 100 years, and the mines are typically very large and long lived. Bell Copper has two flagship projects in Arizona. Along this same mineralized trend Freeport McMoRan is currently expanding its 200 million pounds of annual copper production capacity from the Bagdad mine, Mercator Minerals is operating the Mineral Park mine, and Rio Tinto is proving up over 1 billion tons of copper ore averaging over 1.5% copper at Resolution. This recent discovery of the giant Resolution orebody serves as a reminder that undiscovered porphyry copper deposits still exist in Arizona and that they are worth finding.
Bell Copper’s flagship properties are their targets at both Kabba and Sombrero Butte in Arizona -- large tonnage "Resolution-type" porphyry copper targets, buried beneath younger alluvium. The Resolution deposit, located near Superior, Arizona, may be one of the largest copper resources ever found in North America and possibly worldwide. The ore body rests more than a mile below the surface and appears to be of good grade. In May 2008, Rio Tinto, Resolution Copper's parent company, announced that Resolution Copper had completed sufficient drilling on the deposit to report an Inferred Resource of 1.34 billion tons, containing 1.51 percent copper and 0.040 percent molybdenum.
Bell Copper's 100%-owned 1,770 acre Sombrero Butte land package in the Copper Creek District represents the first consolidation of these claims since they were mined back in 1920. The target is copper in breccias underlain by a subjacent porphyry target. Phase I dilling included 48 metres of 1.06% Cu, 22 metres 4.74% Cu, 9.56 metres 5.57% Cu and 66 metres of 1.45% Cu, and included indicators of the suspected buried porphyry source. Phase II drilling provided further high grade Cu mineralization and suggested that the footprint of the potential underlying porphyry could be significantly larger than first thought.
Bell Copper's 100%-owned Kabba Project consists of approximately 10,100 acres of claims and permits in Mohave County, Arizona.. Recently resumed drilling is designed to locate a truncated major Mo-Cu porphyry system that lies under shallow cover on Bell's property. There's a 12 km long by 1.5 km wide Laramide-age porphyry Mo/Cu system on the western edge of the Kabba prospect where drilling was conducted between 1959 and 1984 by Bear Creek Exploration, Union Carbide, AMAX, Cerromin, Conoco, Hanna, Kerr-McGee, Santa Fe, and Noranda. These companies demonstrated 15 square kilometers of intense greisen and potassic alteration, quartz veining, and highly anomalous molybdenum and copper contents, but failed to locate an economic deposit. Bell's VP of Exploration, Tim Marsh (P.Eng., Ph.D., Stanford), is pretty much the most knowledgeable guy on the continent when it comes to these types of deposits, having drilled out much of the massive Resolution deposit for Rio Tinto as Resolution Copper's Chief Geologist before leaving the comfort of big company security to take his best ideas and chase his dreams in a junior.
Dr. Marsh has completed the detailed work programs, including mapping, geophysics, geochemistry and initial drilling, and is zeroing in on what should be the missing faulted-off top of that massive partially outcropping porphyry system. He determined that what everyone historically drilled was a deep level root zone exposure, underlying a huge potential copper shell now faulted off. A major fault located on the western edge of the Kabba prospect separates this root zone from a down-dropped block that he's convinced will contain the richer copper-bearing parts of this porphyry system. Integration of surface and drill data provide a 15 square kilometer target area extending from the previous drill hole (K-5) to more recently mapped outcrops showing quartz porphyry intrusions overprinted by sericitic alteration and Mo-Cu-As-Se-W mineralization. A seismic study showed that the fault cuts the porphyry at a surprisingly shallow angle of 30°, meaning that it should be relatively shallow but further away, and not deep and close by as originally expected.
The Kabba project is positioned close to infrastructure necessary for large scale mining operations. Two miles to the east of the project site is the major high voltage power line running between the hydroelectric generating station at Hoover Dam and the city of Phoenix. One of the world's few molybdenum concentrate leaching facilities is being constructed 73 miles to the southeast of Kabba at Freeport's Bagdad mine. The Phoenix metropolitan area continues to provide support for the large Arizona copper mining industry, and Kabba will benefit from its proximity.
This is a business where people and experience play a key role. Dr. Marsh brings 25 years of exceptional industry experience to Bell Copper. Dr. Marsh left his position as Chief Geologist of Resolution Copper Company (a Rio Tinto Company) where he played a principal role in the planning and initiation of a multi-year, deep exploration drilling project on the large, high grade, Resolution porphyry copper deposit in Arizona. Dr. Marsh worked for Kennecott Minerals Company on the Cortez Joint Venture in Nevada, where recent and past production comprises more than 30 million ounces of gold. He was also with AMT International where he was the Manager of Exploration and Geology and was responsible for resource discovery at Copper Creek, Arizona. Dr. Marsh's degrees include a B.Sc. in Geological Engineering from Colorado School of Mines, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in "Ore Deposits and Exploration" from Stanford University. Dr. Marsh is also a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Arizona.
Bell Copper and its quest for large-scale company-maker porphyry deposits in safe, mining-friendly jurisdictions offers exceptional upside opportunity at fire-sale prices.
