All the easily discoverable mines have already been found, said Coppernico Metals Co-founder and CEO Ivan Bebek.
Bebek spoke to Kitco News last month at the 2023 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC).
Coppernico Metals was spun out from Auryn Resources. Coppernico Metals says its goal is the exploration and discovery of world-class copper-gold deposits in the Americas. The company is currently focused on the Sombrero district in Peru. The target has an exploration analogue to the major mines in Peru like Las Bambas, said Bebek.
"I personally believe it is globally significant as the number one copper-gold undrilled exploration
project in the world," said Bebek. "We've been at this project for about seven years, and we've spent $18 million dollars to get to this stage."
Peru is the world's second largest copper producer. Coppernico is currently unlisted.
Bebek said years of under-investment and a dwindling pipeline of mines are bullish for the sector.
"We're coming out of a 10-year bear market, " said Bebek, noting that companies have been cutting back on exploration and have not nurtured new talent. "Turning that back on takes time. Mines aren't being found anymore because the easy mines that could be found have all been found. There's a real crunch in the commodity supply-and-demand picture. It's an incredible macro picture. It's kind of
the perfect storm."
Coverage of Vancouver Resource Investors Conference 2023 sponsored by First Mining Gold.
