TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 19, 2017) - Duran Ventures Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DRV) (BVL:DRV) ("Duran" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that due to a return to normal climatic conditions in northern Peru, operations at the Company's 80% owned Aguila Norte flotation plant ("Aguila Norte" or the "Plant") will restart shortly. As previously announced (see Company's new release dated March 16, 2017) extremely heavy rain falls and floods in northern Peru due to the El Niño effect resulted in the temporary suspension of operations at the Plant.
The Regional Government of La Libertad in Northern Peru declared a state of emergency for the region on February 9, 2017. Highways and roads throughout Northern Peru were affected by the severe weather conditions which caused the collapse of many bridges along the coast and in the mountainous regions. Mineral shipments and consumable material for the Plant were not available and/or were considered too dangerous to transport during this time. Plant operations were briefly halted after the first week of March and it was decided to suspend operations on March 15th when the highway and roads nearby the Plant became impassable.
The Company is also pleased to announce that 91.17 metric tonnes ("mt") of zinc concentrates and 23.26 mt of lead-silver concentrate was shipped from the Plant and has arrived at the Impala Terminals in the port of Callao, Lima. The concentrates are 100% own by Aguila Norte and represent the first sale of concentrates produced from wholly-owned purchased mineral. The Company entered into an agreement with mineral trader Ocean Partners to purchase the concentrates. The Company expects to continue purchasing and processing this mineral. Third party mineral currently on site is expected to be processed by the end of the month once the circuit, pad and equipment have been thoroughly inspected and approved for processing. The third party mineral is not owned by the Company and the mineral supplier is charged a processing fee, or "Maquila", for each metric tonne processed.
The Company has received several expressions of interest from nearby mineral suppliers in the region. Over the next few months the Company expects to continue processing third party mineral during and after the Plant commissioning phase but at the same time will focus on establishing long term relationships with mineral suppliers by entering into profit sharing agreements. The Company will also purchase mineral for processing and later sell to certain mineral buyers. Relationships with these buyers, or traders, have been established and short term loan agreements will be set up to assist the Company in mineral purchases. Jeffrey Reeder, CEO and President of Duran commented "The recent extreme weather in Peru affected the operations during this crucial startup phase. This rare severe El Niño effect last occurred in Peru in 1997 and I have personally witnessed the effects of this natural phenomena both times. While constructing the Plant Duran took this into consideration and consequently only minor repairs are required to certain areas of the Plant affected by the heavy rains. We are very excited that our very first owned concentrates have arrived at the Impala Terminals in the port of Callao and are awaiting payment. The produced concentrates show that the flotation circuit at the Plant is functioning as expected."
The Company is also pleased to announce that the Don Pancho property sale transaction with Tartisan Resources Corp. ("Tartisan") closed on March 30, 2017. The Company received CDN$50,000 and 500,000 shares of Tartisan and retains a 2% net smelter return royalty, of which half (1%) can be purchased by Tartisan for US$500,000.
Jeffrey Reeder, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for all technical information contained in this news release.
About Duran
Duran Ventures Inc. is a Canadian exploration company focused on mineral processing and the exploration and development of precious and base metal properties in Peru.
Duran Ventures Inc. is a Canadian resource companylisted on the TSX Venture Exchange and the Bolsa de Valores de Lima: Symbol "DRV"
