Zincore Metals Inc. (TSX:ZNC) started trading its shares on the Lima Stock Exchange recently in a move that signals increasingly closer ties to Peru following a recent management overhaul.
“The biggest part of our projects are in Peru, and there’s certainly an interest from within Peru to invest in home grown or backyard projects,” Zincore spokesman Adam Ho told BIV. “It’s an additional way to attract investors in capital markets that aren’t as developed yet.”
The company still wants to call Vancouver home, but Ho said Zincore’s president and CEO Jorge Benavides comes from a family in Peru with a long history of mining, and he wants Zincore to strengthen its relationships there.
Zincore is focused on two zinc properties in Peru: Accha and Yanque.
Accha contains an estimated zinc and lead reserve that totals 800 million pounds.
Last June, former president and CEO Timo Jauristo tendered his resignation, and days later Benavides was named interim leader.
Benavides was once senior adviser to the chairman of U.K. giant Hochschild Mining plc (LSE:HOC), which has three mines in Peru.
In May 2009, Hochschild bought a 48% stake in Zincore, and a week after Benavides stepped in signed a $1 million loan agreement with the Vancouver junior.
Not long after, Zincore found a new CFO and board of directors.
In October, Benavides became the company’s permanent president and CEO.
In March, Hochschild sold its stake in Zincore to its chairman, Eduardo Hochschild, for $10.3 million. Hochschild is also a director of Banco de Crédito del Perú, which is Peru’s largest bank.
Zincore’s website boasts its new management and board of directors, and Ho said the Lima listing is yet another sign of its commitment to South America.