Strategic Partnership To Explore San Matias Copper-Gold Porphyry Project

 

TORONTO - Cordoba Minerals Corp. reported that High Power Exploration Inc. (HPX), a private mineral exploration company indirectly controlled by mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland, has agreed to form a partnership with Cordoba. HPX has agreed to make a strategic investment in Cordoba and will have the option to enter into a joint venture with the Company to earn up to a 65% interest in Cordoba's highly prospective San Matias Copper-Gold Project in Colombia by funding the Project and completing a feasibility study.

Cordoba's newly discovered San Matias Copper-Gold Project contains several known areas of porphyry copper-gold mineralization, copper-gold replacement or skarn-style and vein-hosted, gold-copper mineralization and is ideally located in flat topography, near significant infrastructure and large scale producing open pit mines. Recent drilling at the project yielded numerous high-grade copper gold intersections including 101 meters of 1.0% copper and 0.65 g/t gold.

"This partnership with HPX is a significant development for Cordoba as it provides the Company with a strong strategic shareholder and access to an experienced exploration and development team instrumental in delineating and advancing several world-class mineral deposits, which will complement Cordoba's team that has successfully drilled and discovered high grade copper- gold mineralization at San Matias," said Mario Stifano, President and CEO of Cordoba.

"HPX is pleased to be able to gain an interest in what we consider is one of South America's best copper-gold exploration projects," said Mark Gibson, HPX's Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to bringing our leading-edge exploration technology to explore San Matias and leverage our team's experience in having discovered numerous significant ore bodies."

The newly discovered San Matias Copper-Gold Project comprises a 20,000-hectare land package that contains several known areas of porphyry copper-gold, copper-gold replacement or skarn-style and vein-hosted, gold-copper mineralization. Additionally, the project includes an extensive package of applications (+200,000 ha) covering areas prospective for similar metaliferous systems and also coal, on the inferred northern extension of the prolific and richly endowed Mid Cauca Belt.

Porphyry mineralization at the project incorporates high-grade zones of copper-gold mineralization hosted by diorite porphyries that contain strong potassic style alteration and various orientations of sheeted and stockwork quartz-magnetite veins with chalcopyrite-bornite mineralization and minor zones of K-feldspar within vein margins and secondary biotite. Within the porphyries present, zones of intense sheeted quartz veining often reach over 50% replacement of the intrusive host rock associated with strong potassic alteration and copper- gold mineralization. Lesser calc-sodic alteration also is noted as trace actinolite and albite alteration zones, largely in basaltic wallrocks and inclusions. At least one later phase of chalcopyrite veining overprints the sheeted and stockwork quartz-magnetite veins. A second, more felsic intrusive mineralized phase also has been identified which contains lesser quartz- magnetite veining associated with chalcopyrite and pyrite and a more well-developed dissemination of chalcopyrite-pyrite.

The nature of mineralization and related alteration within the San Matias Project is similar to those of other large high-grade copper-gold porphyry and associated skarn/replacement deposits globally. To date, three major structural trends of an approximate strike length of 13 kilometers each; entirely within tenure of the San Matias Project have been defined from geophysical and surface geochemical sampling.