Could you please give us an overview of Arizona Sonoran Copper Company and its Cactus asset?

Sure, Arizona Sonoran Copper Company (ASCU) recently concluded its initial public offering in November 2021 and is now listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ASCU. Moreover, the company has been listed on the OTCQX under the symbol ASCUF since April 2022. Our Cactus mine project comprises the Cactus mine and Parks/Salyer deposits, which are part of a massive copper porphyry system located entirely on private land in Arizona. The Cactus mine used to be a productive open pit mine in the 1970s and 1980s, and a significant amount of infrastructure remains at the site. Our pre-feasibility study (PEA) issued in 2021 estimates a resource of approximately 3.5 billion lbs of copper (1.6 billion lbs in the indicated category and 1.9 billion lbs in the inferred category) over an 18-year mine life. Additionally, in 2022, we issued a maiden resource estimate of 2.9 billion lbs inferred at a grade of 1.015% CuT on the Parks/Salyer project, bringing our global resources to 6.5 billion lbs (1.6 billion lbs indicated and 4.9 billion lbs inferred). The new resource estimate demonstrates the scalability of the Cactus project and the potential for sharing future infrastructure.

What do you think attracted Rio Tinto to become a shareholder in Arizona Sonoran?

Our proposed plan is to restart production of the oxide and enriched leachable material with an SXEW plant using a heap leach operation. Presently, no commercial technology exists to leach copper from a primary sulfide. However, the Rio Tinto group of companies has established a subdivision, NutonTM, that has developed a technology that enables the leaching of a primary sulfide under a commercial application. If the NutonTM technology proves to be successful, Rio Tinto believes we will be more receptive to entering into a commercial agreement with them, where they would share in the profits from the sale of copper from the primary sulfide.