Concurrently, Denham will invest $500,000 in Camino by subscribing for 2.3 million 22c shares on a private placement basis. Upon closing of both transactions, Denham will own about 19.9% of Camino's issued and outstanding shares.

Camino believes Maria Cecilia, where about US$28 million of exploration expenditures have been made since 2012, lies at the centre of a large porphyry complex. Previous work includes 32,120m of drilling between 2013 and 2015, and a 2020 inferred resource estimate of 93 million tonnes grading 0.29% copper-equivalent at the Emmanuel deposit.

The company believes the skarn system at Maria Cecilia has geological similarities with Antamina, one of Peru's largest copper mines about 100km away, which has a relatively high-grade skarn core surrounded by a lower grade copper porphyry. 

"The Maria Cecilia Porphyry Complex provides another large geological system to our portfolio of copper assets," said Camino president and CEO Jay Chmelauskas.

Denham Capital director Justin Machin said it was a good time in the copper cycle to partner with the new management team at Camino, which "has a track record of developing successful companies".

"Maria Cecilia is our premier copper exploration asset in Peru, and we believe that it will complement Camino's prospective Los Chapitos and Plata Dorada projects," he said.

Under an investor rights agreement, as long as Denham maintains a 10% interest in Camino it will have an anti-dilution right on future financings and the right to appoint a director to the board.

Shares in Camino Minerals are trading at C29c, valuing the company at $28 million.