Culpeo Minerals raises ownership level at flagship Chile copper project
Culpeo Minerals可获得其在智利Las Petacas铜矿项目高达85%的利润。
Less than three weeks after reporting encouraging copper intercepts at its Las Petacas project in Chile, Culpeo Minerals (ASX: CPO) has raised its interest in the ground to 66%, after earning an additional 8% since listing last year.
The company has a right to earn up to 85% of Las Petacas.
In mid-December the company reported that drilling had intercepted broad zones of copper mineralisation over a strike length of 500m, with an overall copper mineralised trend exceeding 6km in strike length.
Both drill holes revealed in mid-December intersected multiple zones of mineralisation.
Las Petacas is located in northern Chile, approximately 640km north of Santiago and 35km south of the regional capital of Copiapó in the Atacama Region.
The project is sited 10km from the Pan-American Highway and consists of 22 granted exploration concessions.
Drilling to begin at two untested copper-gold prospects
Most of this 6km trend at Las Petacas remains untested by drilling.
Culpeo is now planning to move a rig to the undrilled Diego East and Far East prospects where geophysical surveys have identified multiple copper targets.
Managing director Max Tuesley said drilling at Las Petacas is continuing into 2022, aimed at delineating additional copper-gold mineralisation in what the company describes as an “extensive and highly prospective tenement package”.
The increase in Culpeo’s ownership underpins our belief in the potential of Las Petacas to host copper mineralisation in the Atacama region, he added.
Located in copper elephant country
The low-altitude Atacama Region is known to host significant mineral potential. One of the region’s main copper deposits is Lundin Mining Corporation’s world-class Candelaria mine, located 20km northeast of Las Petacas.
Copper mineralisation at Las Petacas is interpreted to be associated with the same regional structure as Candelaria, Culpeo notes.
Culpeo was incorporated in 2018 and has acquired the Las Petacas, Quelon and San Sebastian projects.
Quelon lies 240km north of Santiago, near the regional centre of Illapel, where Culpeo has the right to earn an 80% stake.
The project contains numerous historic mines. Copper grades up to 3% have been recorded from rock chip sampling at these historical workings.
About 55km from the port city of Caldera is the 100%-owned San Sebastian project, also part of the Atacama region.