Our name Avanco is derived from the Portuguese “avanço” which means “to advance”. We think this name demonstrates how quickly we are developing, and how far we have to go.
Mining is a long-term business. From exploration to commercial production takes time, capital and a tremendous amount of perseverance. It also comes with changes in the commodity cycle, ups and downs of economics and politics, and not least, dynamic and unforeseen impacts.
Avanco moved from discovering Antas to producing in 5 years, and within months of first production was generating positive cash flows from both copper and gold sales, that have helped build a sizeable cash pile that is being used to fund exploration, all whilst remaining debt free.
With Antas established growth is our priority. In March 2017, the Company announced a $10.6 million programme to advance exploration and project development. The focus is the larger Pedra Branca Project, which has the potential to quadruple total group production to 50,000 tonnes of annual copper, the benchmark of a mid-tier producer.
Further growth optionality will come from the Company’s CentroGold Project. Investors sometime ask why we are investing in this project. Admittedly it is a gold project, but the value to unlock lies in our applying our Brazilian competences and know-how. We believe that this project has great potential and offers a low-cost rapid-return option on gold that we are well placed to achieve. This ‘golden-optionality’, combined with our Carajás copper exploration tenements, one of the largest total land packages in the region is unrivalled, and offers significant upside potential beyond our near-term 50,000 tonne production target.
