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- There have been no significant findings in the last decade.
- Mining companies must have three pillars: technical, political and soundness.
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In the opinion of Geological Engineer Dr. Alberto Ríos, director of Alpha Mining, the industry mining must be integrated, walk together the small, medium and large mining, do not go each one by his side, trying to carry water for your mill. The company that manages important prospects, some of which even with prospects for large mining. The businessman demands to promote the activities of mining exploration, which in recent years has has neglected, also asks the government to expedite the approval of the EIS and all permits necessary in the sector. Then the interview with the distinguished Peruvian professional.
Ingeniero Ríos, how long has Alpha Mining been on the market?
- We constituted the company in 2014, in these six years of operation we have tried to consolidate the company to be competitive in the market, making shared efforts with my partner, who is also a geologist.
We have formed a strategic alliance with the company Quántica Minefinders that comes from the world of investments in different areas, such as agriculture, fishing, mineral storage and in the last four years in the mining business. In the meantime they have gotten some complaints, but as legal men (lawyers) they needed advice in mining and they found in us a wide technical “Know How” in mineral geological exploration. We have formed a very powerful strategic alliance.
On what bases should companies that work in the mining world rely?
- In my opinion, mining companies should be based on at least three basic pillars: the technical part, which is fundamental; the political part, which in today's world has become essential to advance negotiations, red tape and contacts of all kinds. The third pillar is the economic - financial one. A project can have an excellent technical base, but if it does not have the other pillars it is at a disadvantage. In Peru there are thousands of good projects and they all compete with each other.
And what does Ing. Ríos tell us about the Huabalito project located in Piura?
- This is a project with prospects of becoming large mining. It is a porphyry type system with mineralization of Gold, Copper and Molybdenum. We are close to obtaining financing abroad to carry out a geophysical prospecting campaign and then do 3,000 meters of diamond drilling. We are in very advanced conversations to finalize these next explorations.
Our partners from Quántica Minefinders have a Gold Leaching Plant in Las Lomas (Piura), which collects all the gold ore from this area, located one hour from our project. We are also close to the Tambo Grande project, which is the best known in the area.
What are the attitudes of the inhabitants of the area towards the development of mining activities?
- In recent years, there is a very encouraging outlook for mining in the area, this because the permanent activity of small artisanal mining has caused a change in the population that previously was mainly opposed to this economic activity, but is currently notices a more open attitude and accepts national and foreign investment.
I am not exaggerating when I say that the artisanal miner is the spearhead of the industry, they are the first explorers, they open the doors so that larger companies can enter to carry out larger jobs, with more sophisticated technology. That is why artisanal mining deserves the support of medium and large mining.
You also have the Katta project, in Lambayeque, what are the advances?
- This project also has very good prospects. It is located on the border between Lambayeque and Cajamarca, a few kilometers north of the Cañariaco project. It is also a Porphyry with good Copper, Gold and Molybdenum anomalies on the surface. We are in talks with some foreign mining companies that already have complaints in the area, we hope to reach concrete agreements to carry out more aggressive exploration in the project.
The projection is for a deposit greater than 300 million tons, with grades between 1% and 2% of Copper in surface anomalies, as well as up to 2 grams of Gold per ton. This entire area constitutes one of the most favorable Copper Porphyry belts in Peru.
Alpha Mining also has another project located in the Ancash region, what progress has it had?
- This is Antaorco, a recent project located in the upper parts of Ancash, towards the Marañón River. It is a remote area with little accessibility. It is a Copper deposit with Gold content and some Nickel and Cobalt anomalies. We have already done geophysical prospecting, resulting in some highly chargeable anomalies that indicate an important sulfide content. There is no major opposition from the inhabitants to carry out these jobs, they are communities forgotten by the State, consequently, if they see that they are given work, they support the mining activity.
What is the potential of the Oro de Olmos, Ing. Ríos project?
- This is a very typical vein system in the northern part of the country, with low sulphidation, we have values between 4 grams and 12 grams of Gold per ton and a “Trend” of veins 4 kilometers long and we have found five main veins . Our plan is to develop it a little more, making some trenches and pits to give more continuity to the mineralization. We are going to find a small miner to accompany us on the adventure of producing it together.
What are the plans for 2021?
- Our project for this year is to develop the Oro de Olmos project, seek financing for the Huabalito project and we are going to explore, ourselves, something else in Antaorco, as well as look for interested parties for Katta, which is a project that aims at large mining and we are not in a position to undertake an exploration of that level. We are optimistic to move forward, overcoming difficulties, suddenly we can add some other interesting projects to our portfolio.
I understand that you are going to participate in pro Explo 2021, why don't you tell us something about that topic?
- It is true, at the invitation of the Organizing Committee, led by Eng. Enrique Garay, I am going to present these projects that I have mentioned in the interview, at the Prospectors 2021 appointment, in more detail.
What are your reflections at the end of this interview?
- Despite difficult times, we must insist on geological mining exploration activities, which in recent decades we have unfortunately neglected. If we do not achieve important discoveries of new deposits, we will not have a way to replace the mines that reach the end of their useful life, since mining is a non-renewable activity. In addition, the government must proceed diligently with EIA procedures and facilitate other permits so that projects can start production as soon as possible.