Portugal Colonial - Camino Appointments Senior Management to Build and Operate the Puquios Copper Mine in Chile and for Corporate Development

The Company along with its partner Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd. ("Nittetsu") has appointed Marcelo Bruna as Chief Executive Officer of Cuprum SpA, the established Chilean company to advance the development of the Puquios copper mine, a 50/50 Joint Venture with Nittetsu. Based in Santiago, Marcelo will manage the Chilean operations. Marcelo is a senior mining executive with over 30 years of experience in project development and operations. He has overseen more than US$2.5 billion in mining investments and brings strong expertise in delivering large-scale copper projects through construction and operations.

In addition, Camino has established a new finance team based in Santiago, Chile, to support the Company's operations. The team will play a key role in advancing project-level financial planning, supporting debt financing initiatives, and general Joint Venture accounting functions as the Company moves towards the planned commencement of construction of the Puquios copper mine in mid-2026. A finance package with a Japanese lender is expected in mid-year 2026 to begin construction of the copper mine.

The Company has also engaged Darryl Steane as a Corporate Development Consultant. Darryl will support Camino's strategic initiatives, including supporting technology development and potential expansion of Puquios copper mine, and continue to build the Company's portfolio of copper assets. Darryl is a mining executive with over 20 years of global experience in corporate development, project financing, and M&A. He has held senior roles at BHP and South32 and served as the inaugural President and CEO of Ambler Metals copper project in Alaska and advancing large-scale resource development initiatives in North America.

"Marcelo knows the Puquios mine, having worked with Denham Capital, and has very deep experience constructing and operating mines; he has most recently operated an SXEW copper mine in Chile, similar to the Puquios mine process. Camino and its partner Nittetsu Mining met with our potential lender in Japan in April, and our financial package is on track to target the summer for initial drawdown," said Jay Chmelauskas, CEO of Camino. "We have further bolstered our finance and human resources team in Chile with additional hires in our offices in Santiago. In April, the Puquios project was visited by senior Camino and Nittetsu management to inspect progress of early works and to plan for mine construction. We are also pleased to have Darryl join our Vancouver-based team to support management with his extensive copper mining background and recent commercial experience with new leaching technologies, for the next phase of growth at Camino."

Corporate update

Camino granted 500,000 stock options, 545,000 restricted share units and 125,000 deferred share units to certain directors, officers, consultants, and employees to purchase up to a total of 1,170,000 Common Shares. The stock options have a term of five years at an exercise price of $0.50 per share and will vest over a 36-month period, with 25% vesting immediately upon grant and an additional 25% vesting on each anniversary thereafter. The restricted units will vest annually over a three-year period and the deferred share units are redeemed upon retirement from the Company.

About Camino

Camino is a discovery and development stage copper exploration company. The Company has entered into a joint venture partnership with Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd. to advance the construction-ready Puquios copper project in Chile toward development and production. Camino is advancing its IOCG Los Chapitos copper project located in Peru through to resource delineation and development, and to add new discoveries. Camino has also permitted the Maria Cecilia copper porphyry project for exploration discovery drilling to add to its NI43-101 resources. In addition, Camino has increased its land position at its copper and silver Plata Dorada project. Camino seeks to acquire a portfolio of advanced copper assets that have the potential to deliver copper into an electrifying copper intensive global economy. For more information, please refer to Camino's website at www.caminocorp.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this release constitute forward-looking information. In making the forward-looking disclosures in this release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information in the release includes, without limitation, statements with respect to the expectation to receive a debt facility, the start of drawdown and construction of the Puquios Mine, prospectivity to grow the business with technology or otherwise. Although the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking information in this release is subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking information. Such risk factors include, among others, that actual results of the Company's exploration activities may be different than those anticipated by management; that geological interpretations, including the continuity or extent of mineralized bodies, may change with additional drilling; that the Company may not realize the benefits of joint ventures and/or strategic partnerships; that the Company may be unable to obtain or may experience delays in obtaining required permits, authorizations and approvals; operational and technical risks inherent in exploration; and risks related to the state of equity and commodity markets. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Camino Minerals Corp

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

P.L.Madureira--PC