Antares Minerals (TSXv:ANM) Creating Some Serious Shareholder Value in South America

Malcolm Bucholtz B.Sc, MBA Analyst

Trading Note

Antares Minerals is squarely focused on unlocking value in projects in South America. At present, Antares is focused on its Haquira Copper Project in Peru and on its 50/50 joint ventured Rio Grande Copper-Gold Project in Argentina. The Antares team is led by President John Black. Mr. Black is no stranger to South America having a number of years in places like Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina with the likes of Kennecott and Western Mining. Mr. Black is ably assisted by Chief Operating Officer Robert Wunder who has worked around the globe on mining projects for the likes of Kennecott, Echo Bay Mines and Gold Reserve.

Haquira – Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment

The Haquira project is located in south-central Peru adjacent to mining giant Xstrata's La Bamba project. Antares Minerals has now received a positive scoping study and preliminary economic assessment on the near surface portion of the mineralization at the Haquira project. The scoping study shows that for a capital investment of $301 million, a 50,000 tonne per day heap leach mining/milling operation could be built that would see Copper cathode produced using the SX-EW process over an 11 year mine life. This study was centered around a resource of 212 million tonnes of indicated mineralization grading 0.42% Copper and an additional inferred resource of 77.2 million tonnes grading 0.35% Copper.

Using a base case of $2/lb Copper, this study outlined an after tax NPV(8%) of $224.4 million. Cash operating costs are pegged at $1.09 per pound. This is slightly higher than the overall industry average, but not by very much. If higher grade mineralization is mined in the early years of mine life, project capital could be paid back in 2.9 years.

Rio Grande Project - Off to an Excellent Start

The Rio Grande project is located along a geological feature called the Archibarca Lineament which also plays host to the prolific Escondida Copper project some 150 kms to the northwest (across the border in Chile). Escondida, owned by mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto is the largest copper mine in the world. 2007 production of 1.483 million tons of Copper was worth some US$10.12 billion and constituted 9.5% of world Copper output. Clearly Antares is playing in the right ballpark. A drilling program is now underway on the Sofia Zone of the Rio Grande Project. Early results are looking good and so far a zone of mineralization has been identified that measures 450 meters by 90 meters. The Rio Grande project is a 50/50 joint venture with Canadian based Mansfield Minerals (TSXv:MDR) and future development will be shared 50/50 with Mansfield.

Antares - Do The Math

Antares Minerals currently has just over 47.5million basic shares outstanding. There are a further 3 million warrants and 3.5 million options outstanding to give a fully diluted share structure of 54.3 million shares. At current prices, Antares has a market cap of about $216 million. If one takes the NPV for the Haquira project as determined using the base case $2 Copper ($224.4 million) and divides by the fully diluted share structure the result is just over $4 a share – right where Antares is trading at right now. This means that in these cruel and often bizarre markets, Antares is not reflecting the current reality of $3.80 Copper nor is it reflecting the blue sky potential of the Rio Grande project in Argentina nor is it reflecting the additional potential at the Haquira Project.

Take a Serious Look at Antares Minerals

At The Market Traders, we are intrigued with what Antares has accomplished in Peru and with the potential of its 50/50 joint venture Rio Grande project in Argentina. Antares has good support at the $3.25 level and has been pretty much confined to a trading range of $3.25 to $4.25 for 2008 to date. Meanwhile Copper in 2008 has moved from the $3.00 level to the $3.80 level. Our advice on Antares Minerals right now is to buy the dips and start building a position in the stock. The Haquira project will either get developed by Antares or it will be bought out by a larger mining entity. It's just that simple. Either way, current share prices are not reflective of the inherent value that Antares is sitting on. At $3.00 Copper prices, the NPV(8%) on the Haquira Project closer to $660 million. This implies much higher prices are on the horizon for Antares. Pay close attention and don't let this one get away on you.

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