Ivanhoe Electric, SQM team up on copper exploration in Chile

[Ben Graham]

Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE-A, TSX: IE) is teaming up with lithium miner Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (NYSE: SQM) to explore for copper on parts of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.

Under the partnership, the companies will deploy Ivanhoe’s Typhoon geophysical surveying system as well as Computational Geosciences Inc.’s data inversion software to search for copper deposits on certain SQM mining concessions covering approximately 2,000 km² in area.

A vast part of the Atacama Desert is covered with caliche, a surface deposit of sediments cemented by salts that is mostly found in arid regions of the world. Caliche is highly electrically resistive, which makes it difficult for low-power geophysical transmitters to detect underlying sulfide mineralization.

According to Ivanhoe, its Typhoon technology can generate a powerful, clean electrical charge that can penetrate the highly resistive caliche cover to detect potential copper deposits at depth.

SQM’s caliche-covered concessions, from which it already produces potassium nitrate and iodine, are located on major porphyry copper and polymetallic manto belts in the Atacama, and are near some of the largest copper mines in the world, Ivanhoe said.

“Chile has supplied the world with copper for generations, and as demand accelerates, we believe the next wave of world-class copper discoveries will be found hidden beneath these large areas of caliche,” Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe Electric’s executive chairman, said in a press release on Tuesday.

To unearth the copper mineralization, Friedland emphasized the power of the company’s Typhoon platform as well as the CGI technology, stating that they’re “uniquely capable of seeing through that cover to illuminate what other technologies cannot.”

Potential joint venture

SQM, in addition to providing access to its mining concessions, will support these exploration efforts by committing $9 million in funding over a three-year period. The parties will also form a joint technical committee for developing work programs and budgets.

During the exploration phase, Ivanhoe will operate mutually approved Typhoon surveying across the available mining concessions, with data inversions performed by CGI. SQM will operate the subsequent drill programs within a designated area.

Upon the discovery of a deposit with over 1-million-tonne (in copper or copper equivalent) potential, Ivanhoe would have the option to form a 50/50 joint venture with SQM over the designated exploration area. To exercise its option, Ivanhoe must pay twice the total exploration expenditures funded by SQM to date. Once formed, the joint venture will be funded on a pro rata basis.

Following any future development decisions, SQM has the option to operate the joint venture provided it holds at least 50% of the equity in the joint venture.

Shares of Ivanhoe Electric traded 3% higher on the partnership announcement, taking its market capitalization close to $3 billion in New York. SQM’s shares also inched 1% higher, with a market capitalization of $23.8 billion.