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Figure 1: CCI’s portfolio of option agreement assets
RIMOUSKI, Quebec, June 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Puma Exploration Inc. (TSXV: PUMA, OTCQB: PUMXF) (the “Company” or “Puma”) has received the first-anniversary option payment from Canadian Copper Inc. (CSE: CCI) (“Canadian Copper” or “CCI”) as outlined in the Option Agreement dated June 30, 2021. Canadian Copper elected to issue 3,637,873 common shares of the company at $0.0825 per share (the 20-day VWAP price from June 3, 2023) for a $300,000 first-anniversary option payment. CCI’s largest shareholder is Puma, with 10,001,968 shares representing 13.48% ownership. Prior to the first-anniversary option payment, Puma owned 6,364,095 common shares of CCI, representing approximately 9% ownership.
Under the Option Agreement (see July 6, 2021 News Release), Canadian Copper can earn a 100% interest in five (5) copper properties (Figure 1), some with existing historical resources, by making cash and/or share payments to Puma over the term of the agreement. Another two (2) payments of $1,000,000 each over the next two years are expected to execute the deal.
Figure 1. CCI’s portfolio of option agreement assets
Source: www.canadiancopper.com
Since going public in July 2022, Canadian Copper’s strategic objective has been to secure and continue to grow its mineral inventory of critical minerals in New Brunswick’s famous Bathurst Mining Camp. As announced on June 13, 2023, the company is acquiring a 72% interest in the Murray Brook Deposit, the largest undeveloped deposit in the province. With this acquisition, Canadian Copper is now the leading explorer for base metals in New Brunswick.
Puma’s President and CEO Marcel Robillard commented, “The focus on green energy transition has highlighted the need to develop copper mines in Canada. Puma spun off its non-core copper assets to Canadian Copper in 2021 to ensure those assets could be developed appropriately, while Puma focuses on gold exploration. Our resulting stake in CCI provides us and our shareholders exposure to copper exploration while allowing us to focus on building a gold camp at our Williams Brook Gold Project. With a fully-funded 2023 exploration program and work well underway, one of my objectives remains to monetize Puma’s non-core assets to create additional value for our shareholders”.
This news release is being issued in accordance with National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues in connection with the filing of an early warning report dated June 28, 2023. The early warning report in connection with the acquisition of the common shares has been filed on System for Electronic Document Analysis and Review ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com under CCI’s issuer profile. CCI’s head office is located at 82 Richmond Street East, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1.