Cordoba Minerals (TSXV: CDB; US-OTC: CDBMF) plans to earn an 80% interest in Bell Copper's (TSXV: BCU) Kabba porphyry copper project in northwestern Arizona by investing $200,000 via a private placement and spending up to $17.3 million on the project over the next seven and a half years.
The Kabba project, 241 km northwest of Phoenix, is where Bell Copper has been pursuing the faulted-off top of a major porphyry copper system, the bottom of which is exposed in the foothills west of Kabba.
"Over the last few months, Bell has hosted a number of majors and mid-tier mining companies who have expressed interest in Kabba," Tim March, Bell Copper's president and CEO, stated in a press release announcing the earn-in and joint-venture agreement. "Partnering with Cordoba and their related parties such as HPX, provides exceptional talent, the tool chest of a major, and the mentality of a proven explorer, making this an ideal fit for Bell Copper as we move forward at Kabba."
HPX (High Power Exploration Inc.), which owns a 67% stake in Cordoba Minerals, is a privately owned U.S. corporation led by CEO and co-chair, Robert Friedland.
Bell Copper says core drilling at Kabba is expected to begin shortly.
The junior explorer notes that Kabba lies on a productive porphyry copper trend that includes Bagdad, Freeport-McMoRan's (NYSE: FCX)'s open-pit copper and molybdenum mining complex.
Cordoba is focused on the San Matias project in Colombia, 200 km north of Medellin. The project contains several known areas of porphyry copper-gold, iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG), carbonate replacement and gold vein mineralization.