Atico Mining Gains on High-grade Drill Results at El Roble

An intercept of over 6 percent copper is nothing to shake a stick at, and there was definitely a reaction from the market in response.

Atico’s share price jumped as much as 15 percent on the news during Wednesday trading hours before finishing at $0.48, or 5.5 percent up from Tuesday’s close. Roughly 150,000 shares of Atico traded hands, over twice the company’s average volume.

The company is conducting an ongoing infill drill program at El Roble to better define and expand mineralization at the mine. So far, drilling has successfully continued to extend mineralization of the Zeus massive sulfide body at the project.

Overall, the company reported results from six drill holes at the project, with other highlights including:

• 7.5 percent copper and 1.31 g/t gold over 39.35 meters
• 6.07 percent copper and 5.65 g/t gold over 29.6 meters
• 6.9 percent copper and 3.93 g/t gold over 31 meters

“Infill drilling at El Roble continues to intercept high grade mineralization at the Zeus massive sulfide body beyond the previously outlined mineralized shell, adding further confidence to our view that mineralization remains strong and open at depth,” said Atico CEO Fernando E. Ganoza in Wednesday’s release.

El Roble has seen other positive results from drilling at the Zeus body this year as well. Highlights from a March release on the drill program include intercepts of 86.4 meters of 5.04 percent copper and 3.71 g/t gold, as well as 116 meters of 3.05 percent copper and 2.38 g/t gold.

As Ganoza explained at that time, the Zeus massive sulfide body accounts for roughly 40 percent of the total identified resource at El Roble. That means any extensions to mineralization that are discovered could have a material impact on the total identified resource for the project.

“The ongoing drill program at the mine will continue well into the second half of the year at which time the Company plans to update the resource estimate,” he said on Wednesday. “[B]ased on the new geological information and the success of the first nine holes, management’s confidence continues to increase with respect to resource growth potential at the El Roble mine.”

Currently, the El Roble mine has an inferred resource of 1.58 million tonnes grading 4.45 percent copper and 3.17 g/t gold. Atico took control of the mine in November 2013, but the project has been operating for roughly 22 years, producing 1.5 million tonnes of ore at a head grade of 2.53 percent copper and an estimated 2.54 g/t gold. For the first quarter of 2015, El Roble produced 2 million pounds of copper and 2,291 ounces of gold in concentrate.

Certainly, investors will be keeping an eye out for more drill results from El Roble as Atico continues working to expand its resource at the mine.

Securities Disclosure: I, Teresa Matich, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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