CLIENT:
ING Capital and a Lenders’ Group

SCOPE OF WORK:
RPA acted as Independent Engineer (IE) on behalf of ING Capital and a Lenders’ Group of 10 multinational financial institutions to assist in the evaluation of Minera Esperanza’s Esperanza Mine. Rothschild, Inc. was the financial advisor arranging for potential limited recourse financing.

The Esperanza Project is an open pit copper-gold project located in Antofagasta Province, Region II, of northern Chile, approximately 162 km northeast of the city of Antofagasta. After the completion of an initial status report and economic review, RPA carried out monitoring during the construction phase, and is currently providing operational monitoring for the Lenders’ group

RPA made semi-annual construction monitoring visits, each followed by a monitoring report to the client. The scope of work for the construction monitoring was based on providing feedback to the Lenders on the progress of the project cons

truction relating to the capital expenditures versus the budget, the likelihood of delays to the development schedule, and the status of ongoing permitting, environmental and social compliance issues, including compliance with the Equator Principles and the JBIC Guideline for the Confirmation of Environmental and Social Considerations.

Subsequent to the completion of construction in January 2011, RPA is providing operational monitoring site visits and reports to the client. The focus of the operational monitoring is to report on the performance of the operations, any remaining construction activities, actual operating costs and production statistics, and environmental and social compliance matters. The reports address the project’s performance against the plan and highlight any difficulties or shortfalls from expected performance.

RPA will continue operational monitoring of the Esperanza Project with semi-annual site visits and reports to the client throughout the life-of-loan period. RPA is also responsible for review of the completion test criteria and to satisfy the lenders that conditions have been met. RPA will verify that the project has met the technical requirements of the completion tests and a completion report will be submitted to the client.