Atacama Pacific has entered into an option agreement with AMX de Chile to explore for and acquire water use rights near its Cerro Maricunga gold project.
"We are very pleased to have taken another significant step forward towards the potential development of the Cerro Maricunga project," said Carl Hansen, president and CEO of Atacama Pacific.
"We would expect water consumption for a potential heap leach operation, as being considered in the ongoing engineering scoping study, to be in the order of 75 to 100 litres per second. Our consultants have identified a number of promising aquifer targets on the concessions and we will commence geophysical surveying over the targets next week. Drilling could occur as early as the next quarter."
Under the terms of the option agreement with AMX, Atacama Pacific will have 18 months to explore and make application to the Chilean water authority for water use rights.
Albrecht Schneider, chairman of Atacama Pacific, owns a non-controlling 13.4 percent stake in AMX through a company he controls.
Atacama Pacific is a precious metals exploration and development company with a portfolio of exploration projects in northern Chile, its primary mineral property being the Cerro Maricunga gold project.
