South American Tin Industry acquires Ecuador's Santa Barbara Gold-Copper Mine and simultaneously launches a CAD 16 million financing

According to Tonghuashun Finance APP, Tincorp Metals Inc. (TSXV: TIN) announced on February 25th that it has signed an Equity Purchase Agreement with Hillview Metal Mining Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiary Adventus Mining Corporation. Under the agreement, Tincorp will pay the seller $13.5 million in cash, approximately $4.5 million in stock, and a 1.5% royalty (with Tincorp having the right to repurchase 1% of the royalty for $10 million) to acquire 100% ownership of Santa Barbara Metals Inc., gaining the Santa Barbara gold-copper mine located in the southeastern Samora Copper-Gold Belt of Ecuador.

The Santa Barbara gold-copper mine has a 52-square-kilometer exploration license. According to the NI43-101 technical report published in July 2021, there are 39.8 million tonnes of controlled-grade ore, with resources of 26.71 tonnes of gold, 42,300 tonnes of copper, and 31 tonnes of silver. The average grades are 0.67 grams per tonne of gold, 0.11% copper, and 0.8 grams per tonne silver. There are also inferred resources of 166.7 million tonnes, containing 86 tonnes of gold, 160,000 tonnes of copper, and 152 tonnes of silver, with average grades of 0.52 grams per tonne gold, 0.1% copper, and 0.9 grams per tonne silver.

The project is located in the southeastern Ecuadorian provinces of Zamora-Chinchipe, about 76 kilometers from the city of Zamora, within the Zamora Copper-Gold Belt, adjacent to several large mines that are operational or under construction. It is 10 kilometers south of Hillview’s Condor project, 36 kilometers from Lundin Gold’s Fruta del Norte gold mine, 56 kilometers from the Mirador copper-gold mine, and 96 kilometers from Solaris Resources’ Warintza project. The project is situated within a mature mining cluster, offering significant geographic advantages.

From 1999 to 2018, the project completed 56 drill holes totaling 22,027 meters, with a mineralized zone of 1.2 kilometers identified. There remains exploration potential in various directions and depths, indicating good prospects for resource upgrades and development.

Meanwhile, Tincorp is also conducting a private placement, raising up to CAD 16 million to support the transaction and subsequent exploration activities.

Victor Feng, CEO of Tincorp, stated: “We are very pleased to acquire this large gold-copper asset, marking the company’s official entry into Ecuador, one of the fastest-growing emerging mining jurisdictions in the world. This acquisition benefits all shareholders. We aim to complete the transaction as soon as possible and immediately initiate resource verification and further exploration work to create more value for our shareholders.”

Tincorp is a mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) under the ticker TIN. Its assets include the Porvenir tin project and the SF tin project in Bolivia. Completing this acquisition will give Tincorp a large, highly prospective gold-copper asset in Ecuador, further expanding its development scope, enhancing core competitiveness, and increasing its attractiveness in the capital markets.