News

Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC, President: Hiroshi Yao, capital: 119.4 Billion yen) is pleased to announce that AQM Copper Inc. (AQM) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Minera AQM Copper Peru S.A.C. (AQM Peru) agreed to and signed on a Subscription Agreement which stipulates MMC's purchase of a 40% stake in AQM Peru. The signing took place on June 28 (local time) in the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

AQM Peru is a Peruvian subsidiary wholly owned by AQM in order to participate in the Zafranal copper project (Project).
AQM Peru is executing this project through Compañia Minera Zafranal (CMZ), which is a joint venture between AQM Peru and the Canadian natural resources company Teck Resources Limited (Teck). AQM Peru and Teck have a 50:50 interest in the project.
MMC will acquire 40% stake of AQM Peru, meaning an indirect interest of 20% of the Project, in exchange for investing 22.6 million USD by undertaking newly issued shares of AQM Peru in accordance with the Subscription Agreement.
Furthermore, after the undertaking of newly issued shares described above, AQM Peru will issue more new shares of which MMC will contribute 15.1 million USD representing MMC's proportionate share.
MMC's funding will be able to cover the costs related to the Pre-Feasibility Study and Feasibility Study.

This Project is located in the porphyry copper belt of Southern Peru, an area where other major copper projects are also located. The Project is expected to be cost competitive by taking advantage of developed infrastructure in the surroundings, it's favorable waste ore ratio (1.06) and favorable location, such as its modest elevation (approx. 2900 meters) and accessibility to the coast (approx. 80 kilometers).

Participation in this Project is in line with MMC's strategy to proactively secure stable supply of copper concentrates and acquisition of quality assets in their earlier stages of development. The involvement in the Project will serve to increase the MMC's own source of concentrate supply and diversifying its supply portfolio.

<Related Information>

1. Overview of AQM Copper Inc.

   (1) Headquarters

   Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

   (2) President

   Mr. Bruce Turner

2. Overview of Zafranal Copper Project*
   (* Based on Preliminary Economic Assessment data disclosed on Jan. 16, 2013)

   (1) Property holder

   Compañia Minera Zafranal S.A.C.
   (Joint Venture between AQM Peru 50% and Teck Resources 50%)

   (2) Location

   90km northwest of Arequipa, Peru. Elevation: 2,900m.

   (3) Total in-pit mineral resources

   512 million tonnes (Cu 0.36%, Au 0.07g/t)

      (Breakdown)

   Flotation 425 million tonnes (Cu 0.38%)
   Leaching 87 million tonnes (Cu 0.23%)

   (4) Mining method

   Open pit

   (5) Mine life

   Approx. 15 years (13 years for leaching)

   (6) Milling rate

   80,000 tonnes/day

   (7) Metal production

    

   LOM Total	Concentrate	Cu 1.41 million tonnes, Au 15 tonnes
   	Cathode	Cu 120 thousand tonnes
   Annual Average	Concentrate	Cu 94 thousand tonnes, Au 1 tonne
   	Cathode	Cu 9 thousand tonnes

   (8) Capex

   1,520 million USD

   (9) Position

   See map below

   

   [Capital Relationship Diagrams]Before Investment by MMC

   After Investment by MMC