SQM is one of Chile’s largest and oldest mining companies, with a market capitalisation of approximately US$24 billion. SQM is a world-leader in the production of lithium, potassium nitrate, and iodine from its mining operations in Chile, with one of the largest portfolios of mining concessions in the country.

SQM produces its potassium nitrate and iodine through the exploitation of vast areas of caliche cover in the Atacama Desert. Caliche is a surface deposit of sediments cemented by salts, making it highly electrically resistive and impeding the penetration of low-power geophysical transmitters and their ability to detect underlying sulphide mineralisation. Typhoon™ generates a powerful, clean electrical charge that can penetrate the highly resistive caliche cover to detect potential copper deposits at depth.

The collaboration establishes the framework for Ivanhoe Electric and SQM to explore certain of SQM’s mining concessions, comprising a total of 2002 km2. Through a jointly run technical committee, the collaboration will use Ivanhoe Electric’s Typhoon™ geophysical surveying system and Computational Geosciences Inc.’s (CGI) data inversion software to search for qualifying copper deposits during an initial three-year term.

A 'qualifying copper deposit' is defined in the collaboration as any deposit with the potential for at least one million t of contained copper or copper equivalent, as determined by an independent geologist.

The collaboration will be funded by SQM with an initial commitment of US$9 million. Upon identifying a qualifying copper deposit, Ivanhoe Electric will have the option to acquire a 50% interest in the deposit and form a 50/50 joint venture with SQM by paying a price equal to twice SQM’s exploration expenditures to date. The exercise price will be paid to a new joint venture company and used for further exploration and other related activities. Upon the formation of a joint venture, SQM will contribute the relevant mining concessions and associated exploration data. Thereafter, the joint venture will be funded pro rata by each of Ivanhoe Electric and SQM.

Mr. Friedland commented: “We are proud to partner with SQM, one of Chile’s great mining champions, to deploy our disruptive Typhoon™ and CGI technologies across northern Chile, one of the world’s most prolific copper regions. Vast areas of electrically resistive caliche conceal enormous geological potential beneath the surface. Our Typhoon™ and CGI platform is uniquely capable of seeing through that cover to illuminate what other technologies cannot. Chile has supplied the world with copper for generations, and as demand accelerates, we believe the next wave of world-class copper discoveries will be found hidden beneath these large areas of caliche.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/28012026/ivanhoe-electric-and-sqm-enter-into-typhoon-driven-mineral-exploration-and-collaboration-agreement-in-chile-to-explore-for-new-copper-deposits/

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