Marimaca Appoints Ausenco to Lead Marimaca Project Definitive Feasibility Study

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marimaca Copper Corp. (“Marimaca Copper” or the “Company”) (TSX: MARI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ausenco Chile Limitada (“Ausenco”) to lead the Marimaca Project Definitive Feasibility Study (the “DFS”), following a competitive bidding process.

Ausenco is a leading multi-national engineering firm with significant experience in Chile, including the current execution of the engineering, procurement and construction contract (“EPC”) for Capstone Copper’s Mantoverde Development Project.

The firm has a wealth of experience and is already familiar with the Marimaca Copper Project (the “Project”) having led the 2020 Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “2020 PEA”) and subsequent trade-off studies for the Project. Ausenco will lead the DFS engineering workstreams as well as serve as lead author for the planned NI 43-101 technical report with its professionals acting as Qualified Persons for core chapters. In addition, Ausenco will also act as the engineering lead for permitting application purposes.

Marimaca Copper and Ausenco will complete a business case optimization leading into the DFS with both workstreams to focus on the following core areas:

• Development of final geo-metallurgical model to optimize leaching conditions for recovery and acid consumption
• Crush, Heap Leach and SX-EW process plant throughput optimization, layout, design and capex estimation
• Mine plan trade-off to optimize throughput and target production rate
• Targeting leading sustainability metrics with a focus on carbon intensity per tonne of copper produced, recyclable water and green power use and associated infrastructure (see press release dated November 7^th, 2022)

Hayden Locke, President & CEO of Marimaca Copper, commented:

“Ausenco is a world-class engineering and construction firm with a long track record building copper projects in Latin America, most recently in Chile. We have already worked together extensively, and Ausenco has deep familiarity with the Project, but is also aligned with our corporate objectives of developing a sustainable project with the highest focus on reducing capital cost and maximizing risk-adjusted return on invested capital.

“We look forward to working together to optimize the approach to building what we believe is an exceptional copper development project, with outstanding sustainability features.”

Zimi Meka, Co-Founder & CEO of Ausenco, commented:

“Marimaca is an excellent fit for Ausenco’s market-leading engineering and study expertise in Chile, especially as the Company seeks to accelerate towards project execution. We have extensive experience delivering copper projects in the region including Constancia, Mina Justa (Peru) and, most recently, Mantoverde in Chile. We believe the Marimaca Project has all the credentials to be the next mine developed in Chile and we’re excited to be part of the current phase of its development.