Jun 7 2013
Rugby Mining Limited ("Rugby" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has acquired the Cobrasco copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry property in Colombia. The project is situated next to Rugby's Comita project in the Western Cordillera porphyry copper belt (Figure 1), 100 kilometers west of the City of Medellin.
The Cobrasco concession covers 3,000 hectares within two blocks immediately to the north and south of the Comita concession, a separate project under option to the Company. The Cobrasco concession was acquired in an arm's length transaction and is subject to a 1% net smelter royalty to Rio Tinto.
Significantly, the Company has completed a Consulta Previa ("CP") agreement with the local Cocomacia communities which provides immediate exploration access to the Cobrasco concession area for a period of ten years. The agreement is broadly based and provides for economic assistance to the local community as well as social development programs. The CP consultation process was carried out by Rugby, Cocomacia and local community leaders under the supervision of the Colombian Ministry of the Interior. This is the first successful mineral exploration CP to be carried out in Choco Province.
To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/877RUGfig1.pdf.
The Comita/Cobrasco area was first explored during the 1980's by a German government (BGR) / Ingeominas reconnaissance program. That program identified extensive and strongly anomalous copper stream sediment geochemistry coincident with outcropping porphyry copper style mineralization. The zone of strong stream sediment copper anomalism extends over a district sized area of approximately 8 square kilometres covering both the Cobrasco and Comita concessions (Figure 2). No drilling was conducted.
In 2011, Rugby completed a low level aeromagnetic survey that defined two large prominent magnetic low anomalies coincident with the historic anomalous copper geochemistry.
To view Figure 2, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/877RUGfig2.pdf.
Exploration of Cobrasco will commence in June with a focused program of geological mapping, geochemical sampling and ground-based geophysical surveys. This work will assist in drill targeting within the large historic geochemical anomaly on the property. An application for a drilling permit will follow this program, with approval anticipated by year end.
Commencement of exploration at Comita is awaiting transfer of the property to Rugby and the successful completion of a CP allowing access to the area.
Mabuhay Project, Philippines Update
The Mabuhay project, in Surigao Province, comprises the Motherlode epithermal gold target and a gold-copper porphyry target at depth. Rugby has the option to earn up to an 80% interest in Mabuhay. As a result of a Philippine government moratorium on the granting of new MPSA titles pending legislation enacting a revised revenue sharing scheme, Rugby and its exploration joint venture partner, All-Acacia Resources Inc, have agreed to convert the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement ("MPSA") Application to an Application for an Exploration Permit ("EP"). The EP application was submitted to the government in April 2013. Until the EP is granted the project will remain under care and maintenance.
Separately, the Company is reducing corporate overheads to maintain its treasury in these times of difficult access to risk funding.
Francisco Montes, the Company's Exploration Manager, a "qualified person" (¨QP¨) within the definition of that term in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has supervised the preparation of the technical information that forms the basis for this news release.