Topic: Growth Stocks

AMERIGO RESOURCES $0.47 – Toronto symbol ARG

AMERIGO RESOURCES $0.47 (Toronto symbol ARG; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.amerigoresources.com; Shares outstanding: 172.5 million; Market cap: $82.8 million; No dividends paid) processes copper and molybdenum from waste rock at Chile’s El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine. This includes rock from the mine’s current production and tailings from the nearby Colihues deposit. This contract runs at least through 2037.

Amerigo gets 94% of its revenue by processing copper. The remaining 6% comes from molybdenum.

A landslide in one of Amerigo’s production areas has hurt its copper and molybdenum production. In the quarter ended December 31, 2013, copper output fell 9.7%, to 12.25 million pounds from 13.56 million a year earlier. Molybdenum production declined 37.6%, to 181,464 pounds from 290,775. However, these operations are now recovering, and production growth is returning to normal.

Amerigo is nearing an agreement to process material from the Cauquenes tailings deposit, located near its current operations. This is a big growth project for Amerigo: the company expects it to help double its production in 2016, to 90 million pounds.

The Cauquenes expansion will cost $140 million. However, Amerigo has used its cash flow to pay off all of its debt over the last few years, and it currently holds cash of $13.1 million. This gives it the financial flexibility to borrow the money it needs for Cauquenes from Chilean banks.

The shares have moved up from a low of $0.31 in early December 2013, even though copper prices have dropped to around $3.35 U.S. a pound from $3.02.

The longer-term outlook for copper prices is positive, given improving demand and uncertain supply. That should push the share price even higher.

Amerigo is still a buy for aggressive investors.

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