I like to introduce a new Grandich Publications client, Lupuka Gold.
Since it’s IPO in June 2011, Lupaka Gold has grown its resource base four-fold. Experienced management, successful exploration and committed on-going community relations efforts in Peru have allowed the company to go from a very early stage explorer, to one with over 3.4 million gold equivalent ounces in its portfolio.
Lupaka’s flagship Crucero project currently sits at 2.2 million ounces of gold. What’s even more exciting is that the overall project area holds several areas of interest with the potential to expand the resource base by orders of magnitude. The community relations efforts at Crucero have been key to developing and maintaining the working relationship necessary to move a project forward in Peru. It has been the other half of the focus, along with exploration in the process of creating a district scale operation at Crucero.
Strength in management is something that cannot be undervalued. Lupaka’s upper management has experience taking junior companies through the exploration stage right through to takeover. Eric Edwards was most recently CFO at Andean Resources before it was taken over by Goldcorp in a $3.4 billion acquisition in 2010. Prior to joining Lupaka, Darryl Jones was CFO at Corriente Resources before they were acquired by CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co. for $680 million in 2010. Experience of this nature is invaluable in an industry where success is rare, and those that have succeeded before are more likely to succeed again.
Several catalysts are on the horizon for Lupaka. The company anticipates receiving its category 2 permit for Crucero in August. This is the highest form of exploration permit obtainable in Peru and will keep the company permitted at Crucero through to the development stage.
Invicta, Lupaka Gold’s secondary asset is receiving attention from larger, cash flow generating company’s interested in potentially taking it into production. Invicta is a near-term production asset that Lupaka acquired through the merger with Andean American Resources in October 2012. A joint venture that would see Lupaka participate in a cash flow generating asset moving forward is an attractive proposition for the company, and shareholders.
Exploration at Crucero is focusing on the several unexplored magnetic and structural anomalies that surround the current resource area. Indications point to these anomalies being possibly gold bearing, and exploration being warranted and exciting. The sheer amount of potential gold mineralization in these anomalies is what gives Lupaka its serious upside potential. The possibility of creating a mining camp or district scenario is what Lupaka was formed to do, and the next stage of exploration should give the company a good idea of how large this potential is.