Candente Copper Corp (DNT)

[HRUIBAL1]

Candente Copper Corp. (DNT) expects to make new discoveries next year at its $1.5 billion Peruvian copper deposit, the company’s chief executive officer said.

Candente is waiting for a water permit to complete a $30 million feasibility study for its Canariaco project in the northern Andes, CEO Joanne Freeze said today in an interview in Lima. Canariaco Norte, one of three deposits in the company’s concession, is feasible at a copper price as low as $2.25 per pound, Freeze said.

“We also plan to be drilling at Canariaco Sur and Quebrada Verde, where we could be making new discoveries,” Freeze said today from the company’s headquarters. “We believe we should get these permits fairly soon, as I have no reason to think it would be another three months.”

Peru, the world’s third-largest copper producer, has lined up $53 billion in mining projects over the next decade in a bid to double output, according to the National Society of Mining, Petroleum & Electricity, an industry group. Candente is holding talks with prospective buyers for its Canariaco project, Freeze said, without naming them.