Dorato Resources: Polymetallic mineralization discovered at Lucero target

Dorato Resources announced the receipt of positive gold-silver and base metal geochemical results from Minera Afrodita relating to the high priority Lucero geophysical target on the Condor Gold-Copper Belt project in northern Peru.

Minera Afrodita's 2009 regional prospecting is in progress and the company has applied for a drill permit for the Taricori Zone, which is currently under review by the Peruvian authorities.

Dorato Resources anticipated that future work at Lucero will focus on expanding the regional sampling to include the southern, untested portion of the geophysical anomaly.

Recent prospecting and sampling of the geophysical anomaly has returned highly anomalous results from 166 rock samples, ranging from below detection to 3.27 g/t gold, 171 g/t silver, 0.38% copper, 0.82% zinc and 1.24% lead.

Interpretation of the results indicates that mineralization appears to be extremely pervasive through the country rocks representing a high priority target,s aid the company through a statement.

The Lucero target is located less than 5 kilometres to the south-east of the high-grade Taricori workings (previous News Release NR09-05), where grades from 168 vein channel samples averaged 10.95 g/t gold, 134.41 g/t silver, 0.21% copper, 3.99% zinc and 1.35% lead.

Lucero Mineralization

Initial work suggests that mineralization is primarily developed in a sedimentary sequence where magnetite and pyrite appear to form replacement lenses and vein fill. The presence of magnetite accounts for the magnetic anomaly.

Rock sampling indicates that gold and copper are the principal metals of importance in the system along with strongly anomalous bismuth and secondary zinc and lead.

In addition to the main mineralization in the sediments, a number of gold mineralized rock and soil samples have also been discovered in a tonalite body.

This mineralization has a similar geochemical signature to that found in the sedimentary rocks, but with no magnetite reported.

Lucero is interpreted to belong to the intrusion-related gold-copper deposits family. Globally, such a deposit setting is highly prospective for large bulk tonnage mineralization.

The presence of reactive sedimentary host rocks is considered very positive for the potential development of significant volumes of mineralization that could be amenable to bulk tonnage mining methods.

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Astaldi-Graña y Montero to build Huanza hydro plant

Italian construction firm Astaldi and Peruvian company Graña y Montero will build the 90MW Huanza hydro plant in Peru for miner Buenaventura.

The US$116mn contract includes civil works, construction of a roller compacted concrete dam, a 10km tunnel, the machine house and a switchyard, Astaldi said in a statement.

BN Americas reported that works are set to start in November and are expected to be completed in 29 months.

Huanza will use water from the Pallca and Conay rivers in Huarochirí province, Lima region.

The project will allow Buenaventura to supply all the power needed at all the mines the group plans to be operating by the time the plant begins operations, company CFO Carlos Gálvez told BNamericas previously.

"Peru has been selected as a country which may offer further interesting opportunities especially in the sectors of energy production and of transport infrastructure," Astaldi's CEO for industrial policies Giuseppe Cafiero was quoted as saying.

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BPZ Energy announces updated oil reserves for Peru's Corvina field

BPZ Resources announced today the update of estimated oil reserves from independent reserve engineers Netherland Sewell and Associates on the company's Corvina field in offshore Block Z-1 in northwest Peru.

NSAI's reserves report estimated proved, probable, and possible oil reserves as of June 30, 2009 based on the definitions and guidelines set forth in the 2007 Petroleum Resources Management System approved by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

This midyear reserve report was obtained in connection with the ongoing negotiation of a reserves-based credit facility.

The combined total of Proved, Probable, and Possible reserves (commonly known as 3P reserves) in Corvina approximates 91 million barrels of oil (Mmbo), compared to the previous estimates of 81 Mmbo at year end 2008.

The proved oil-in-place increased from 97 Mmbo to 136 Mmbo, while the corresponding proved remaining oil reserves increased from 25 to 25.3 Mmbo, after deducting the 1.6 Mmbo produced as of June 30th through the long term testing program.

The estimated average ultimate oil recovery per well remained approximately the same at 1.3 million barrels for the Proved category, although increasing by 0.1 million barrels to 2.1 and 2.2 million barrels for the Probable and Possible categories, respectively. Please click here to read complete press release.

Houston based BPZ Energy is an oil and gas exploration and production company which has exclusive license contracts for oil and gas exploration and production covering approximately 2.4 million acres in four Blocks in northwest Peru.

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Peruvian exports sent to over 170 countries in Jan-Aug 2009

The number of destination markets for Peru's exports has increased to 177 countries, which shows that companies have hinged on market diversification to weather the economic crisis, the Peruvian Exporters' Association (ADEX) said Sunday.

“Diversification is not an easy goal to achieve, it represents hard work. Exporters consider this subject, that is why we have 15 more destinations than in 2003 (162 countries),” Adex President Jose Luis Silva said.

He pointed out that between January and August 2009, destination markets for Peru's export-oriented production totaled 177 countries; in other words, 6 more countries than last year.

Among new destinations of recent years we can find Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Georgia, Luxembourg, Sudan, Greenland, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Rwanda.

Adex also noted that another new destination market is Israel, which increased its Peruvian non-traditional imports by 38 percent in the first 8 months of the year.

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Peru's production of gold, silver and copper is increasing

For the seventh month in a row, national production of silver increased by 5.15% last September, while gold production increased by 1.92% and copper by 1.65% compared to the same months last year.

According to a report from Energy and Mines Ministry, silver production increased up to 327,100 kg, a 5.15% increase from same month last year, reported livinginperu.com.

Moreover, gold production in September 2009 rose to 16,331,398 kgrms compared to the 16,022,982 registered in September 2008, that is, a 1.92% rise.

As for copper production, it reached 106,556 metric tonnes in September 2009, which means an increase of 1.5%, from the 104,831 metric tons registered in September 2008.

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Andean Development Corp. to release funds for Electric Train in 1Q 2010

The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) reported Thursday that in the first quarter of 2010, they will release US$300 million to finance Lima’s Electric Train works.

Last August the institution approved a credit worth US$300 million for the culmination and implementation of the Villa El Salvador – Grau Avenue stretch of the Lima’s Electric Train, which will be executed by the Ministry of Transports and Communications (MTC).

The CAF's financing represents nearly 55 percent of the estimated total cost for this project, which amounts to US$549 million.

CAF Representative in Peru, Eleonora Silva, said that the MTC must deliver at the end of November the award to a bidder of civil and electromechanics works of the Electric Train, as well as the concession of the operator of this project.

“We believe that in first quarter we must have the expenditure because this is the last phase of the relevant previous details,” she said.

She added that the CAF is assessing credit facilities worth US$30 million for direct impact works (both social and environmental) of the South Interoceanic Highway.

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Peru emerges as Latin American economic power

The Peruvian economy has shown an outstanding performance in Latin America, today said General Motors and Isuzu Motors officials during the meeting with President Alan García held this morning at the Government Palace.

The president of GM Peru, Edgar Lourencom, confirmed the company’s interest in investing in Peru since "it has emerged in the region, which is very surprising."

The head of Isuzu Motors, Yoshinori Ida, highlighted the government’s interest and concern to promote the use of clean fuels, such as natural gas, to avoid environmental pollution.

"Peru is on the right track, because it promotes the use of clean fuels," he said.

Ida said his company supports the government’s efforts in this regard, and announced a potential incursion into the domestic market for products such as compressed natural gas light trucks, “which we hope offer in the near future."

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Photo: Isuzu Motors President Yoshinori Ida after the meeting with Peru’s President Alan Garcia Perez. Photo: ANDINA / Juan Carlos Guzman Negrini

Peru, Norway about to sign maritime agreement

Peru and Norway are about to reach an agreement on maritime services enabling the FTA between Peru and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - to come into force in the last quarter of the year, reported Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur).

In the first half of this year Norway asked to reopen the agreement’s Maritime Services chapter because it disagreed with what had been decided so far.

Peru and the EFTA -Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway-, concluded negotiations for a FTA in late October 2008 which was expected to come into effect during the first quarter of 2009.

Negotiations were nearly completed and, at the end, Norway raised some considerations concerning the maritime theme and then negotiations stalled.

In July, Peruvian deputy trade minister Eduardo Ferreyros noted that free trade pact would only come into effect once this chapter is defined.

FTA negotiations between Peru and EFTA started along with Colombia, in June 2007 in Bogota. Four negotiations rounds have been held so far, and the last one also took place in Bogota in April 2008.

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Maxy Gold signs binding LoI with Horizonte on Corina gold property

Maxy Gold Corp. announced Monday that it has signed a binding letter of intent with Consorcio Minero Horizonte granting them an option to acquire up to an 80% interest in the Corina low sulphidation Gold property by paying Maxy US$700,000 in cash, completing US$8,500,000 of exploration and feasibility work and paying Maxy a sliding-scale royalty. Horizonte is a Peru-based private gold producer.

Andre Gauthier, Maxy President and CEO, said: "We are very proud to be working with Horizonte, an established gold producer with an excellent production record trying to grow aggressively by investing in high quality projects."

He added Maxy's work to date and property location in a famous gold and silver producing camp suggests that Corina is highly prospective for low sulphidation epithermal gold mineralization and this agreement makes a very promising start to the development of the Company's Peru portfolio."

Felix Navarrau Grau, Horizonte president and CEO, said: "We are very pleased to acquire an interest in the CORINA property and to associate ourselves with such a group of professionals as Maxy. We strongly believe that the CORINA property has the potential to help Horizonte pursue its objectives. Horizonte will start field work as soon as the final agreement is signed."

Deal Terms:

Under the letter agreement, Horizonte will have a first option to earn a 65% interest in the Corina Property by paying total of US$700,000 in three installments: US$200,000 at each of signing and on the first anniversary, and the final US$300,000 on the second anniversary.

And by completing not less than US$1,500,000 work expenditures within three years. The first US$500,000 including US$300,000 in drilling, is a firm commitment within 18 months.

Subject to completion of the first option, Horizonte would have 60 days in which to elect to invest a further US$7,000,000 over five years on feasibility work to earn an additional 15% interest (for an aggregate 80%) in the Corina Property.

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Peru emerges as second preferred investment destination in Latin America

Peru has been ranked as the second most preferable country in Latin America and the Caribbean with favorable conditions for public and private investment and project financing, according to a recent analysis conducted with data from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The ranking was released by the former director of Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Edgar Ortegon, during the second meeting of National Public Investment Systems (SNIP) of Latin America and the Caribbean 2009 that takes place in Lima.

According to Ortegon, professor at the University of Alcalá de Henares (Spain), the ranking is led by Chile followed by Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and El Salvador.

Ortegon noted that the international financial crisis forced governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to allocate over 136 billion dollars to public investment, of which Peru contributed $5.8 billion.

“At this juncture, SNIP has become important in the region, and helped to identify some weaknesses that must be overcome,” he said.

In this sense, Ortegon mentioned that public investment budgets are fragmented in many countries.

The Peruvian capital of Lima hosts a meeting of experts on experiences in the operation of national public investment systems in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Peruvian Finance Minister Luis Carranza opened the event on Thursday morning at Los Delfines Hotel located in Lima's San Isidro district.

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Photo: Former director of Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Edgar Ortegon, during the second meeting of SNIP. PHOTO:ANDINA.

Peru elected member of Unesco Executive Board

Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde said Peru was elected member of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and said it was an honor for our country to be included in this institution.

"Today, Unesco general assembly elected Peru as a member of its Executive Board," he said.

This morning, the 193 Member States of Unesco -gathered at the 35th Unesco General Conference in Paris, the highest governing body of the organization- approved a renewal of the Executive Board by including Peru.

Peruvian chancellor said it is an honor for our country to be included in this institution, because it means we will provide strategic direction and execution regarding Unesco policies in favor of education, science and culture for two years.

The 193 Member States, gathered for the 35th session of the General Conference, the highest governing body of the Organization, on 14 October voted on the replacement of part of the Executive Board, Unesco’s other governing body.

Candidates are divided into five electoral groups. The following States were elected today:

Group I – Monaco, Denmark, Belgium.

Group II – Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Belarus.

Group III – Saint Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Haiti, Peru, Venezuela.

Group IV – China, Viet Nam, Japan, India, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan.

Group Va – Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Kenya, Ghana, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe.

Group Vb – Algeria, Egypt, Syrian Arab Republic.

Members are elected to the Executive Board for a term of four years. Today’s elected States join the 27 that became members during the previous session of the General Conference in 2007, whose mandate will expire in 2011.

Argentina, Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Zambia. Four members - Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Jamaica – whose mandate only expires in 2011 volunteered to leave the Executive Board to facilitate the rotation among countries.

The Executive Board meets twice a year to examine the implementation of the programme adopted by the General Conference which meets every two years. The new Executive Board will meet after the 35th session of the General Conference to elect a Bureau (Chairperson, Vice-Chairs, Chairs of Commissions and Committees).

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Loon Energy Corp starts seismic program on Block 127 in Marañon Basin

Loon Energy Corporation announced Tuesday that a 390 kilometre 2D seismic acquisition program has been initiated on Block 127 in the Marañon Basin area of northern Peru with the first shot recorded in late September.

The data acquisition phase of the program is expected to be completed in November 2009, reported the company thorugh a statement.

A decision on the drilling of an exploration well on the block will be made after the processing and interpretation of the new seismic data has been completed, likely in the first quarter of 2010.

The seismic acquisition program is located in the northeastern and southeastern areas of Block 127 with 255 kilometres and 135 kilometres of 2D data to be acquired in each area.

The closest part of the acquisition program is approximately 6 kilometres from the 10 million barrel oil field at Chambira Este which lies immediately to the east of Block 127 and is connected to the Trans-Andean pipeline system.

The program is designed to complement and infill existing seismic data with the objective of defining potential drilling prospects.

After the processing and interpretation of the newly-acquired seismic data, the partners will elect whether or not to enter into Phase 2 in which there is a one well drilling obligation.

Cepsa Perú, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cepsa, a large Spanish integrated oil company, is the operator of Block 127, one of the largest exploration licenses in the Amazon Basin area of Peru with an area of approximately 2.4 million acres.

Under the terms of a farm-out arrangement with Loon, Cepsa Perú will pay the first US$10.75 million of exploration expenditures after which each party will pay their respective interest share (Loon 20%).

Loon estimates that its share of total expenditures related to Phase 1, including the seismic program, will be in the order of US$ 900,000.

Loon Energy Corporation is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company with principal interests in Colombia and Peru.

The company is reviewing new growth opportunities within South America and other strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder return.

The main shareholder of the company, holding approximately 39% of the currently issued Common Shares, is Kulczyk Investments, an international investment house founded by Polish businessman Jan Kulczyk.

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Peru, UAE to strengthen economic & political ties

Peru and the United Arab Emirates reaffirmed their willingness to strengthen bilateral relations and promote investments in the Andean country after a ceremony in which His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Peru’s highest award, the Order of the Sun.

This distinction was imposed by his Peruvian counterpart Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde, who said this is the first time a UAE official visits Peru, which anticipates further meetings at the government level, and encourage its economic decision makers to invest in Peru.

He said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is playing a crucial role in the development of the country through Dubai Port, which is responsible for modernizing the port of Callao and turning it into one of the largest port in South America.

Peru’s foreign minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde honored UAE Foreign Minister His Highness Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun, and signed a memorandum of understanding to encourage and guarantee investments.

The Peruvian chief diplomat said the government will start implementing a bilateral agreement.

Photo: Peru's Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde honored UAE Foreign Minister His Highness Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Photo : ANDINA/ Jorge Paz H

Canadian AndeanGold completes Phase 1 drill program on Rio Seco project

Canadian AndeanGold announced that the contract driller, A.K. Drilling International has completed the Phase 1 drill program at the company's Rio Seco Project, located in la Libertad, north of Peru.

All samples from the drill program have been shipped to the independent Inspectorate Assay Laboratory in Lima, and the assay results should be available in approximately three weeks.

The program entailed the drilling of eleven reverse circulation holes, for a total of 1,400 metres, reported AndeanGold in a statement.

All holes were successfully drilled as planned. The holes ranged from 100m to 158m in inclined length and from 84m to 143m vertically from surface.

The drill program was designed to test the depth, strike extent and grade of the 600x100m stockwork target to an average depth of 100m, as a follow up to the encouraging assay results from the 2008 and 2009 trenching programs.

The Rio Seco Project is a gold property of approximately 3,325 hectares with associated silver and copper, located in the department of La Libertad, in the north of Peru.

To date, four mineralized zones and ten main vein systems have been identified. The West Zone has been identified as the principal mineralized trend.

It lies within a shear system created by two major N-S faults and exhibits both potential open pit stockwork targets and potential underground multiple vein targets.

While there are several exploration targets of interest on the Rio Seco Project, the company's principal interest is the timely testing and advancement of the open pit potential of the stockwork target area, with the objective of establishing a bulk mineable, heap leach mineral resource, if economic grades are present.

AndeanGold Ltd. is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and potential development of primarily precious metals properties, principally in Peru and Ecuador.

The focus of the company's exploration activities is presently in advancing its Rio Seco Project, as well as pursuing mineral property acquisitions, in Peru.

In Ecuador, the company's activities have been limited to administrative and legal matters due to the Mining Mandate issued by the Ecuador Constituent Assembly on April 18, 2008.

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Peru, US and Korea to lead SMEs innovation issues in APEC in 2009 - 2012

Peru, the United States and South Korea will lead innovation issues for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), during the 2009 – 2012 period, the Ministry of Production said Friday.

"The country is located in a unique position to observe and analyze successful experiences in technological innovation from the economies of the Asia Pacific," said the Vice Ministry of MSEs and Industry, José Luis Chicoma.

During his participation in the APEC SME Ministerial Meeting 2009, held in Singapore, noted that the importance and priority to be given to innovation and technology as fundamental elements for increasing the productivity of micro, small and medium enterprises and access to international markets.

"The free trade agreement (FTA), signed and negotiated by Peru so far have helped the search for technology and innovation and a more important point is the work done through funds for innovation," he said.

Chicoma added that strengthening the agenda for making progress in this subject, Peru has requested technical assistance in bilateral meetings with the United States, Korea, China, Canada, Japan and Singapore. (Andina)

Photo: APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting in Singapore.

Foreign Trade minister visits Brazil from tomorrow to Friday

Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Martin Perez visits Brazil from Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 leading a delegation of 14 textile and apparel companies, reported Peru's Tourism and Export Promotion Board (PromPerú).

The minister will participate in a forum on textile and garments, and will hold working meetings with Brazilian unions and authorities of the foreign trade and tourism sectors, according to a resolution of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM), published today.

With these meetings both Brazil and Peru try to take advantage of the bilateral agreements, in the framework of the presidential meeting to be held in Lima in December this year.

The minister will also attend the Second Meeting of the Monitoring Committee of Peru - Brazil Trade, which will be held in Sao Paulo on October 8.

The Minister of Production, Mercedes Araoz, will be in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) during Minister Perez's trip. (Andina)

Photo: Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Martin Perez on statements to the press at the Government Palace. Photo: ANDINA/Ruben Grandez.