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Culpeo Minerals Limited (“Culpeo” or the “Company”) (ASX:CPO, OTCQB:CPORF) is pleased to announce a new copper discovery at the Fortuna Project in Chile, with high-grade results of up to 5.37% Cu returned from rock chip samples taken from several newly defined parallel mineralised structures at the Lucero Prospect.
HIGHLIGHTS
- New Lucero Discovery at the Fortuna Project with high-grade copper returned at surface.
- Grades of up to 5.37% Cu returned from several newly defined parallel mineralised structures measuring approximately 950m by 60m.
- Total of 36 rock chip samples assayed, with 18 returning grades of greater than 2% Cu
- Significant results include:
- 5.37% Cu (sample #8615);
- 4.48% Cu (sample #8609); and
- 4.60% Cu (ample #8626).
- Four-hole diamond drilling program to commence at El Quillay north in November 2023.
Culpeo Minerals’ Managing Director, Max Tuesley, commented:
“The discovery of outcropping high-grade copper mineralisation at Lucero is an exciting development for Culpeo. Lucero lies just 1.3km to the north of our high-priority El Quillay drill targets, where surface and channel sampling already suggest significant potential.
When combined with the Company’s highly encouraging exploration results at Piedra Dura and Vaca Muerta Prospects, we are quickly defining a series of high-potential copper and gold drill targets across the Fortuna Project area, the first of which will be tested in November 2023.
Figure 1: Plan view of the Fortuna Project showing the location of the Lucero Discovery. (Vaca Muerta historic sampling results refer toASX announcement 7 August 2023, El Quillay historic sampling results refer to ASX announcement 11 September 2023 and Piedra Dura historic sampling results refer to ASX announcement 1 November 2023)
LUCERO PROSPECT
The newly discovered Lucero Prospect is located 1.3km north of El Quillay within the Fortuna Project. The structurally controlled outcropping copper mineralisation has been delineated over 950m of strike and has been observed to span up to 60m in width (Figure 2).
With grades of up to 5.37% Cu and 50% of samples returning above 2% Cu, this area of Fortuna shows potential for a significant metal endowment. Lucero represents the fifth key prospect Culpeo has identified at the Fortuna Project since its recent acquisition.
The discoveries present as two sub-parallel mineralised zones striking north-west and remain open in all directions. A total of 36 rock chip samples were collected (Table 1), three of which contained very high-grade malachite, bornite and chalcopyrite copper mineralisation assaying between 4 and 5% Cu (Figure 3).
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This article includes content from Culpeo Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
CPO:AU
Loyal to Acquire the High-Grade Highway Reward Copper Gold Mine
Key Highlights
- Loyal secures binding option to acquire the Highway Reward Copper Gold Mine in Queensland, Australia - one of the world’s highest-grade copper mines, with past production totalling 3.65Mt at 5.7% Cu and 260kt at 4.5 g/t Au.
- The acquisition is the first step in Loyal’s 2025 Strategic Plan to broaden its critical minerals portfolio into copper.
- No exploration has been conducted on the granted mining leases since operations ceased in July 2005 despite a ~680% increase in copper prices and a ~1,256% increase in gold prices since the 1997 feasibility study.
- Significant increase in copper and gold prices, combined with the previous exclusion of gold in sulphides from the mine plan, highlights the enhanced remnant copper-gold potential.
- Exploration potential for new discoveries both along strike and at depth, as previous mining only reached depths of 220 metres for open pit and 390 metres for underground operations, with limited exploration beyond mined zones.
- With $4.4 million in funding, Loyal is well-positioned to revisit the high-grade Highway Reward Copper Gold Mine by deploying modern exploration techniques. With global initiatives to enhance energy grids and no USA tariffs on Australian copper, the outlook for copper is strong and unencumbered.
Loyal‘s Managing Director, Mr. Adam Ritchie, commented:
"We are thrilled to secure this incredibly rare opportunity for our current and future Loyal investors. The Highway Reward Copper Gold Mine, considered one of the highest-grade copper mines in the world, is now primed for a revisit after 20 years of dormancy.
The granted mining leases of the Highway Reward mine provide an amazing speed to market opportunity - especially when both copper and gold are near all-time highs. The short-term and long-term opportunities at Highway Reward are exciting, considering the significant growth in commodity prices since the 1997 feasibility study. Copper is driving our electric future and gold continues to play an important role in our global economy.
Whilst a lot has changed in the past 28 years, the unwavering demand for copper and gold has only intensified. This is truly an amazing opportunity to unlock and showcase the immense potential of this forgotten mine. With modern technology and innovative mining techniques, we believe the Highway Reward Copper Gold Mine will provide exceptional value and returns to our Loyal shareholders."
Figure 1 Highway Reward Copper Gold Mine: Located 37 km south of Charters Towers within the Mount Windsor Volcanic Belt. Accessible via an all-weather highway, 172 km from the Port of Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
The Highway Reward Copper Gold Mine is located only 37 km from the active mining town of Charters Towers in Queensland, Australia, within the Mount Windsor Volcanic Belt. This area is renowned for its rich history in copper and gold mining, with strong social license support for mining activities. It features large-scale mining operations such as, Newmont’s 3.2 Moz Mt Leyshon gold mine and Yuxin Holding’s 3.4 Moz Pajingo gold mine. The region is close to the polymetallic, Thalanga Processing Plant and the Mount Carlton Processing Plant, with road and rail to Glencore’s Mount Isa copper hub, Townsville copper refinery and the Port of Townsville.
With the growth in commodity prices and advancements in exploration and mining technologies, the potential for remnant copper-gold mining has significantly improved. Previous mining operations targeted copper within chalcopyrite, while gold associated with both chalcopyrite and pyrite was excluded from the mine plan. With lower copper equivalent cut-off grades (copper & gold), higher continuity of copper-gold can be drill tested to demonstrate the reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction and mineral resource potential.
Graph 1: Highway Reward Copper Gold Mine - mining ceased in July 2005: 28 Years of Commodity Growth
Significant potential will be assessed and areas tested for copper-gold extensions to subvertical trends, that may exist below current mining levels at the Highway Reward Copper-Gold Mine. The previously mined, copper-gold rich pipes will also be assessed for drill testing along strike (Figure 2). Previous mining and surface mapping geological observations illustrate that high- grade copper-gold pipes have been identified in dacite, rhyolite, and volcaniclastic host rocks, therefore strong prospectivity exists for discovering additional pipes beyond the historically mined zones in all rock types on the property, except recent overlying sediments that conceal the basement host rocks (Figure 2). No modern advanced geophysical techniques or data processing methods have yet been applied to assess this potential.
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This article includes content from Loyal Metals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
