We believe copper-gold porphyry systems are the future of gold & copper mining. In order to develop a world class mine, massive scale is required. Pophyry deposits offer potential for massive scale. Porphyry deposits tend to be gold-copper dominant or copper-gold dominant, often with significant silver as well. Importantly, porphyry mines tend to be amenable to efficient and responsible open-pit mining techniques, without the difficulties & variabilities associated with vein-style deposits. While sometimes lower in grade, open pit mines can be 50-100X cheaper to mine than underground vein-deposits, far outweighing the benefits of slightly higher grade.
Vicunau believes Tolita to be the only untested, fully preserved copper-gold or gold-copper porphyry system in the Maricunga / Vicuna Copper & Gold belts.
Toro is the sister deposit to Tolita, with more existing drilling and higher grade results. Recent successful IP Survey confirmed the anomaly hasn’t even been tested yet.
Cachitos is at the SW corner of Cerro Casale and was originally personally staked by Dr. Professor Jose Frutos, shortly after he was involved in leading its discovery.
Vicunau rolled up 7 properties, all surrounding the Cerro Casale & Caspiche (Norte Abierto Complex) mega-assets controlled by Barrick ($40B) & Newmont-GoldCorp ($55B), widely considered the largest gold-copper porphyry on the continent. Vicunau is surrounded by other majors Kinross ($15B) Maricguna/Refugio Gold Mine to the North, Penoles ($8B) / Fresnillo ($9B) to the East, and Lundin ($13B) Caserones & Filo ($3B) to the South.
Dr. Professor Jose Frutos is widely considered one of the most renowned geologists in Chile, having spent years as the National Director for the National Geological Survey of Chile. Dr. Professor Frutos is credited with many of the country’s largest gold and copper discoveries. Dr. Frutos also wrote the Atlas of Chile – 1,200 Mines & Mineral Deposits, in addition to the books “Geology & Mineral Resouces of Chile” and “Stratabound Ore Deposits in the Andes”
Dr. Frutos is credited with leading the discovery team for Cerro Casale (Norte Abierto Complex), now considered the largest gold deposit held by Barrick and Newmont-GoldCorp, the world’s two largest gold producers. Dr. Frutos worked with Bema Gold, the first company to explore Cerro Casale, before it was acquired by Kinross for $3.5-Billion, which was the largest gold corporate acquisition ever at the time.
Dr. Professor Frutos is credited with discovering the world’s largest copper mine “Escondida” in northern Chile. Escondida is the single largest copper mine in the world and contains approximately $450-Billion worth of copper. Dr. Frutos personally staked the Escondida claims himself, although the mine is now owned by BHP ($200-Billion market cap) & Rio Tinto ($150-Billion market cap). Escondida is Spanish for “hidden” or “concealed” because the copper was buried beneath hundreds of meters of rock. Dr. Frutos was the first geologist to theorize that the massive copper deposit was hidden underneath.
After discovering Cerro Casale on behalf of Bema / Kinross, Dr. Frutos decided to stake certain properties for his own family. These claims, known as “Cachitos” are immediately adjacent to Cerro Casale, sitting at the SW corner of this mega-asset. Vicunau now owns the Cachitos properties outright. Interestingly, Dr. Frtutos believes that certain parts of the massive gold-copper porphyry from Cerro Casale may extend onto the Vicunau Cachitos property, albeit under cover of rock. Vicunau is committed to exploring Cachitos and advancing this valuable property.
Dr. Professor Jose Frutos leading a Vicunau exploration survey (Chile // 2024)
Mr. John R. Baird spent two decades in elected office. During that time, he served in senior cabinet roles, including four years as Minister of Foreign Affairs with Prime Minister Stephen Hartper, President of the Treasury Board, Minister of the Environment, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, and Minister of Energy. In 2010, MPs from all parties selected him as Parliamentarian of the Year.
Barrick Gold Corp. has tapped former foreign affairs minister John Baird and former top U.S. lawmaker Newt Gingrich to serve on its advisory board, the company said in regulatory filings. Mr. Baird and Mr. Gingrich, a former Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, will join other political heavyweights including former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on the miner’s international advisory board. The board meets once a year and gives advice to the world’s biggest gold producer, which has operations in the Americas, Africa and Australia. “The role of the board is to provide advice on geopolitical and other strategic issues that affect our business,” a company spokesman said. “Both Mr. Baird and Mr. Gingrich bring with them excellent credentials and experience in this regard,” he said. (Source: Globe & Mail)
Mr. Baird is a true believer in the benefits of having exposure to commodities such as gold, silver, and copper, as a hedge against inflation. He understands the geopolitical landscape and appreciates that Chile has cemented its reputation as a global leader in responsible mining. Mr. Baird began his involvement in Vicunau by investing significant personal capital into the Company, later taking a more active role by establishing the Advisory Board as its co-chair together with Vicunau co-founder & CEO Isaac Maresky.
Mr. Baird is a Senior Business Advisor with Bennett Jones LLP, a premier Canadian law firm. He also sits on the International Advisory Board of Barrick Gold Corp. and the corporate boards of Canadian Forest Products (Canfor, as Chair), the FWD Group (former ING Insurance Asia), and PineBridge Investments (former AIG Investments). He is also a Senior Advisor at Eurasia Group, a global political risk consultancy. Mr. Baird also volunteers with Community Living Ontario, an organization that supports individuals with developmental disabilities and is a Friends of Israel Initiative board member. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies and an Honourary Doctor of Laws from Queen’s University at Kingston. (Source: Bennett Jones LLP)
Enrique Viteri, P.Geo, spent a decade with Anglo American, which was the first major mining company to explore in Maricunga & Vicuna in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Mr. Viteri personally directed the very first drill campaign at Caspiche, now known as the massive Norte Abierto Complex owned by Barrick and Newmont-GoldCorp, considered to be the largest gold-copper deposit on the continent with 58-Million ounces.
Having been one of the first geologists to drill in the region, Mr. Viteri was personally involved in discovering several multi-billion dollar assets. For example, Mr. Viteri was involved in the famous Maricunga Gold Mine (Refugio). Kinross began producing gold from Maricunga in 1998, and at one point this mine produced 15% of all the gold in Chile. Mr. Viteri also worked on Pascua-Lama, the $10-Billion asset owned by Barrick straddling the border of Chile & Argentina.
Mr. Viteri first staked Vicunau Tolita & Toro properties in 1993, when he recognized that these assets displayed the same hallmarks as the mega gold and copper deposits nearby.
Of all the properties Mr. Viteri was involved in, Toro & Tolita are the only assets in the Maricunga/Vicuna which he decided to personally keep and personally maintain. Mr. Viteri has held these assets since 1993, because he believes they have all the hallmarks of massive copper-gold porphyry systems in the region. Mr. Viteri was also involved in the adjacent Yastai / Nemesis asset, now controlled by the major mining company Penoles (Fresnillo). Penoles has staked all of the land immediately surrounding Vicuna’s Tolita property and up until the Lundin Caserones mine.
