Why did Forte Copper Corp decide to rebrand and go public in 2021?

Forte Copper Corp was formed in 2016 with the aim of amalgamating assets while staying private to preserve share capital and assemble a meaningful portfolio before going public and drill testing. With the current performance of the copper market in 2021 and positive market fundamentals moving forward, Forte felt it was the right time to go public. As Forte initially focused on copper porphyries, the company was able to acquire some prospective ground in a gold district in Puno that had been relatively underexplored. As of today, about 75% of the 23,000 hectares that Forte owns are epithermal, high-sulfidation gold prospects. Therefore, the company decided to rename itself as Forte Minerals Corp to better reflect its assets and focus.

How did the GlobeTrotters Resource Group exploration model lead Forte Minerals Corp to the Esperanza and Pucarini properties?

The GlobeTrotters exploration model involves collecting government data, generating algorithms to identify geophysical aster anomalies, and populating thousands of anomalies throughout the Andes. It works best in areas without vegetation cover, helping to delineate argillic and sericitic alteration zones. Of the anomalies identified, Esperanza and Pucarini were two of the properties that attracted Forte the most. Through government auctions, GlobeTrotters acquired Esperanza in 2014 and Pucarini in 2018, and spun them out into Forte. Esperanza is a porphyry copper moly system located northwest of Zafranal, and is drill ready. Pucarini was previously a Teck property from 2011 to 2015, and therefore well-known to Manuel Montoya. It is a huge land package, where Forte has staked 12 targets over 16,000 hectares. Forte completed a geochemical, geophysical and geological mapping work program at Pucarini in November 2020, and will drill test the principal target in 2021 alongside a regional surface exploration program on the other anomalies to better define the targets.

What can you tell us about the Don Gregorio property owned by Forte Minerals Corp, and which of the three projects would be considered as its flagship?

In 2017, Forte Minerals entered into an option agreement with Candente Copper to purchase 60% of the Don Gregorio project, with Forte as operators of the JV advancing the permitting, exploration drilling, social initiatives and resource development. Don Gregorio could potentially be the flagship property, but it is not the one which is going to get drilled first due to a longer permitting timeline. However, it is more advanced than Esperanza and Pucarini, as gold and copper mineralization has been encountered on the subsurface enabling Forte to focus on expanding and defining a resource.

What is Forte Minerals Corp’s timeline for listing publicly?

Forte Minerals Corp plans to list in July 2021 on the CSE by way of IPO. Forte intends to raise up to C$4 million to support exploration expenditures planned for 2021-22 on its Porphyry Copper and Epithermal Gold projects in Peru. This will generate sufficient working capital to undertake two drilling programs in 2021. Considering the time it takes to attain permits in Peru, Forte Minerals’ approach is to work on permitting all three of the projects at the same time from the beginning. Forte has initiated the permitting process on all three projects and expects to receive two-thirds of the permits by Q4 2021.