Culpeo Minerals reports widest copper intercept to date from drilling at Lana Corina
Drilling at Culpeo’s Chilean project has extended copper mineralisation to a 450m depth where it remains open.
Ongoing exploration at the Lana Corina copper project in Chile has returned the widest mineralised intercept to date for Culpeo Minerals (ASX: CPO).
The company intersected a wide high-grade zone of copper mineralisation in the second hole of a nine-hole program for a total 4,000 metres.
An assay of 257 metres at 0.95% copper and 81 parts per million molybdenum (from 170m to 427m) complements a previous assay earlier this month of 104m at 0.74% copper and 73ppm molybdenum.
Both results are believed to validate a geological model that Lana Corina has considerable size and grade, and highlights its exploration potential.
Project rights
Culpeo began drilling at Lana Corina immediately after securing the rights for up to 80% of the asset in March.
The project is associated with a structural zone orientated in a northeast-southwest direction with more than 1,000m of strike and up to 400m wide.
The company is targeting breccia and porphyry hosted high-grade copper mineralised zones.
Assays for the first two holes returned significant copper grades over wide intervals and the mineralisation is associated with a wide zone of breccia at the top of the hole and a diorite hosted vein and disseminated mineralisation deeper in the hole.
Molybdenite occurs as disseminations along with cross-cutting quartz-sulphide veins.
A third hole has just been completed with visible mineralisation logged over a downhole interval of 250m.
Company expectations
Culpeo managing director Max Tuesley said the results have exceeded the company’s expectations.
“The broad zone of high copper and molybdenum grades from near surface is the widest-recorded mineralised intercept reported from Lana Corina to date,” he said.
“These are exciting times as we await further assay results and continue to extend the mineralisation along strike and at depth.”
Ground magnetic survey
Culpeo recently completed a ground-based magnetic survey to map the alteration zone peripheral to known mineralisation at Lana Corina with the aim of identifying additional breccia pipe targets for drill testing.
The survey covered 3.8 square kilometres with geophysical data being collected over 150 line kilometres on a 25m line spacing.
It is expected the data will help detect and define targets related to potential mineralisation, alteration, lithology, and structures within the Lana Corina footprint.