This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner Solis Minerals Ltd. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
The same team that secured Latin Resources (ASX:LRS) a takeover offer at a nearly 60% premium is now hoping to steer junior explorer Solis Minerals (ASX:SLM) to similar success.
Much larger producer Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) completed its $600 million takeover of Latin Resources in February this year.
Now the founder of Latin Resources, Chris Gale, and the company’s former Chief Financial Officer Mitch Thomas are at the helm of another South America-focused explorer.
While Latin Resources was focused on its Salinas Lithium Project in Brazil, Solis is looking to unlock the potential of its copper ground in Peru.
“Akin to the success that Chris Gale and I had at Latin Resources, we want to bring a greenfield exploration project to development,” Thomas tells Mining.com.au.
“We recently exited Latin Resources to Pilbara Minerals for $600 million at the time of announcement. We feel we can replicate this pathway and deliver large returns for shareholders and stakeholders.”
As CFO for Latin Resources, Thomas played a key role in the divestment of the Salinas Lithium Project to Pilbara Minerals. He was also CFO of Battery Materials for Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) based in Los Angeles in the US and was a member of Rio Tinto’s copper mergers and acquisitions team in London.
Thomas has worked extensively in South America, including a three-year stint in Peru working for Rio Tinto supporting the La Granja Copper Project.
“A combination of copper and Peru aligns closely with my experience having lived in the country as part of Rio Tinto’s Copper group,” Thomas says.
“The amount of opportunity and potential in Peru is incredible and I feel Solis Minerals is positioned very well to benefit.”
Thomas took the top job with Solis in February this year.
Gale said at the time the appointment was announced that Thomas has a proven track record of supporting early stage and large-scale mining projects in South America to deliver shareholder value.
Meanwhile, Gale founded Latin Resources in 2008 and served as Managing Director, overseeing the Salinas Lithium Deposit from discovery through to its sale to Pilbara Minerals.
He also currently serves as Chairman of Core Energy Minerals (ASX:CR3) and has a long career in the mining industry, particularly in South America, spanning senior management roles in both the public and private sectors.
Gale chaired the Council on Australia Latin American Relations from 2012 to 2018, which was established by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2001.
‘Skin in the game’
Demonstrating the potential he sees in Solis and Latin America, Gale has been steadily increasing his shareholding in the company via on-market buying.
In late May, boutique advisory firm Allegra Capital, of which Gale is a shareholder and founding director, bought more chess depositary interests (CDIs) for just under $20,000.
Also part of the Solis team is Mike Parker, who earlier this year transitioned to the role of Technical Director. A qualified geologist, Parker previously held senior country manager positions with First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM) and was responsible for two major copper discoveries – the Lonshi and Frontier Mines.
From 2011 to 2017, as country manager for First Quantum in Peru, Parker was responsible for the design and implementation of the company’s corporate strategy in Latin America.
Solis’ board and management collectively own around 7% of the company, while Pilbara Minerals is the explorer’s largest investor with a 9% stake.
The company started drilling in early June at its Chancho al Palo Project targeting a series of porphyry and iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) anomalies.
Chancho al Palo is located 10km from the coast and 25km from Southern Copper’s smelter and refinery complex.
Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) is Peru’s largest copper producer and owns tenements adjacent to Chancho al Palo.
“We have seen companies including Southern Copper and AusQuest identify large copper-gold porphyry systems in Peru’s coastal copper belt,” Thomas tells this news service.
“We have one of the largest concession holdings in this area of southern Peru, so across the two coastal belt targets we will drill shortly – Ilo Este and Chancho al Palo – and one in-land next to Toquepala.”
Toquepala, owned by Southern Copper, is a large porphyry copper mine operating since 1960. Last year it produced over 204,000 tonnes of the metal.
Solis’ landholding comprises 76 exploration concessions covering 65,100 hectares and hosts several targets including Ilo Este/Norte, Chanco al Palo, Cinto and Chocolate.
Peru is the world’s second largest copper producing country with output of around 2.8 million tonnes each year and over half of that originating from the southern region that hosts Solis’ tenements.
Besides Southern Copper, it is also home to the 400,000-tonne-per-annum (tpa) Antamina operation owned by Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK), BHP (ASX:BHP), Glencore (LSE:GLEN) and Mitsubishi (TYO:8058), as well as MMG’s (HKG:1208) 300,000tpa Las Bambas Mine and the 466,000tpa Cerro Verde deposit owned by Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), Sumitomo (TYO:8053) and Compañia de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN).
Southern Peru hosts over 125 billion pounds of contained copper in reserves and resources.
Tapping into copper shortfall
“This gives us incredible leverage to the rising copper-gold thematic in an area that has proven highly prospective,” Thomas says.
In its recent Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025, the International Energy Agency says despite strong copper demand from electrification, the current project pipeline points to a potential 30% supply shortfall by 2035 due to declining ore grades, rising capital costs, limited resource discoveries and long lead times.
Since early April, the London Metal Exchange copper price has jumped over 13% to around US$9,757 ($14,998) a tonne and since mid-June 2020 has rallied nearly 70%.
Solis plans to drill three projects this year.
Ilo Este was deemed a porphyry discovery after drilling between 2014 and 2016 returned results including 472m @ 0.11% copper and 0.09 grams per tonne gold and 200m @ 0.14% copper and 0.1g/t gold, with both intersections starting at surface.
Porphyry deposits account for over 60% of the global supply of copper, as well as other important metals such as molybdenum, gold and silver. Although low grade, these deposits are high tonnage.
Solis plans to drill 5,000m across 10 holes at Ilo Este this month to test an anomaly that measures 1.25km in length and averages 250m in width.
The company is also drilling 17km along strike from Ilo Este at the Chanco al Palo discovery, which shows geological similarities to Ilo Este but has witnessed no historical drilling.
Drilling here will comprise 2,500m across 10 holes to test IOCG and porphyry targets.
Like porphyries, IOCG deposits are large, valuable concentrations of copper and gold, along with other minerals like uranium.
BHP’s Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia is a prime example of this style of deposit and is also believed to be the largest known deposit of this type. Total copper resources at Olympic Dam exceeded 9 billion tonnes at an average grade of 0.8% copper.
Thomas says the combination of a favourable mining jurisdiction and a capable team can generate a lot of success in a favourable market.
“This is what we have with our excellent copper exploration team in Peru supported by a skeleton management team in Australia; especially with current macro tailwinds surrounding copper-gold,” he says.
Besides drilling at Chancho al Palo and Ilo Este, Solis is also waiting on the results of an induced polarisation survey completed at its Cinto Copper Project which are due out in the next couple of months.
“With an enterprise value of approximately $9 million, cash in the bank, drill-ready targets and a tight shareholder structure we have a lot of asymmetry to the upside,” Thomas says.
The company raised $4.5 million in February to support its planned drilling programs.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au & Solis Minerals
