It may not be the glamour-puss of the mining sector that gold is, but copper prices, and the effort to get the metal to the surface and to market, is still something that must be watched. With prices dancing up and down around the $2.25 U.S. mark, it was of more than just a passing interest that Calgary-based Celeste Copper Corp. (TSX-Venture:C) announced news of a significant find on its Chilean reserves.
As the year approached the halfway mark, C announced analytical results for the Reverse Circulation (''RC'') drilling completed on its Celeste I-III and Manto Medio mineral concessions located in the Cabeza de Vaca mineral district, approximately 30 kilometres East from the Chilean town of Copiapo, about 800 kilometres north of Santiago.
On Manto Medio, for example, seven RC holes, totaling 860 metres, were completed over a broad area, producing mineralization intervals ranging from 558 to 2,352 parts per million (ppm) of copper, and from 0.63 to 2.75 ounces per ton (g/t) of silver.
On Celeste I-III, four holes were completed, with mineralization ranging up to 4,892 ppm of copper, 25.75 g/t of silver.
Celeste management is heartened by the prospects for this development, on property with year-round access, low-cost operational costs, and reasonable exploration costs, with local skilled mining personnel.
The last period for which any financial information is available ended in February, when the company posted a loss of more than $52,000, or zero per share capital, still less than the previous quarter, ending in November 2008, during which the loss came in at over $77,000, partly a function of C plunging more of its financial marbles into its latest finds. In the last two years or so, the company has expended more than $1.4 million on the current project in Chile.
Current President and CEO Elmer Stewart has spent more than 25 years experience in the mining field, having served as director of Copper Fox Metals (TSX-Venture:CUU). CFO David McQuaig formerly functioned as CEO as International Health Partners (TSX-Venture:DOC)
As mentioned, Celeste has traded on the Venture Exchange only recently, debuting around 20 cents last August. The stock price dipped to around three cents shortly before New Year’s Eve of 2008. The price currently sits around nine cents, in the middle of that range, pending favourable reaction to the results mentioned above. If copper prices can start moving, investors may thank themselves for heeding the news.
AllPennyStocks.com
