Diamond drilling has commenced for 2,000m at Lana Corina
Exploration has mapped out a potential >3km mineralised corridor
High-grade areas of identified copper and molybdenum to be followed up
Special Report: A diamond drill rig is spinning at Culpeo Minerals’ Lana Corina Project within Chile’s renowned coastal copper belt with an aim to extend broad zones of identified high-grade copper and molybdenum mineralisation.
Chile, the world’s largest copper producer, has a vast network of infrastructure, access to global markets and a skilled labour force which makes exploration and development highly attractive for resources companies.
A growing copper supply crisis has the Bank of America predicting prices to climb from current trading of ~US$9,411/t to US$10,750/t in 2025 and US$12,000/t in 2026 – a good reason why Culpeo Minerals (ASX:CPO) recently boosted its stake up to 50% in Lana Corina.
That move came on the back of acquiring an 80% interest in the nearby Fortuna copper project 10km to the north where it recently identified a possible new third zone of copper within the 3km-long El Quillay trend.
An operational drill rig at Lana Corina as of April 2024. Pic supplied: (CPO)
Lana Corina prospectivity
Copper mineralisation at Lana Corina is associated with four known breccia pipes occurring in the upper levels of a large copper-bearing porphyry-hosted mineralised system across a >3km prospective corridor, with notable extensive hits of:
257m @ 1.10% CuEq in CMLCD002 from 170m
173m @ 1.09% CuEq in CMLCD003 from 313m
169m @ 1.21% CuEq in CMLCD010 from 239m
Molybdenum mineralisation was also intersected, showing 85m at 1,369ppm Mo, (with 0.58% CuEq) from 486m downhole and 35m @ 1,704ppm Mo (0.84% CuEq) from 570m downhole.
Drill hole results from the 2023 program. Pic supplied: (CPO)
The 2,000m diamond drill program for 2024 is focused on expanding the western and down-dip extension of the high-grade copper and molybdenum previously reported at Lana Corina and its Vista Montana prospect area.
Prospectivity modelling has identified multiple target areas at the Vista Montana Prospect area, extending the potential mineralised corridor to >3km strike length.
This modelling indicates significant regional potential for further copper and molybdenum discoveries and provides a pipeline of high-priority drill targets.
Culpeo’s Managing Director, Max Tuesley says following the success of the 2023 program and the exceptional results from Lana Corina, it is exciting to have commenced another significant drilling campaign at the project in 2024.
“The commencement of this extensional exploration program is an important step in realising the company’s growth strategy, and we look forward to sharing progress updates with our Shareholders over the coming months as we continue to drill our Lana Corina and Fortuna projects,” Tuesley said.
This article was developed in collaboration with Culpeo Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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