Las Petacas geophysical survey identifies new drill targets for Culpeo Minerals
Culpeo Minerals’ latest geophysical survey at Las Petacas has returned numerous anomalies where copper sulphides may be present.
Junior explorer Culpeo Minerals (ASX: CPO) has identified multiple new drill targets following the completion of a high-resolution geophysical survey at its flagship Las Petacas copper project in northern Chile.
The extensional gradient array induced polarisation (GAIP) survey was conducted by Quantec Geoscience and designed to expand the coverage of previous GAIP and pole-dipole induced polarisation (PDIP) surveys across 28.5 kilometres of the project area.
It identified multiple additional anomalous areas reflecting high chargeability and indicating the presence of potential copper sulphide mineralisation.
Surveys at the Diego prospect identified areas of similar anomalism which have become the focus of the maiden diamond drilling program underway at Las Petacas.
North-west faults
Culpeo said the new geophysical data supports the interpretation of northwest faults which transect the project area and appear to be “intimately associated” with the newly-defined chargeability anomalies.
Similar fault architecture and structural controls on mineralisation are present at the nearby, world-class Candelaria mine and are known to be an important part of the localisation of economic ore zones in iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits.
A program of five new PDIP survey lines is now underway to cover the higher-amplitude GAIP chargeability and conductivity anomalies.
Two of the planned lines add to dipole-dipole (DDIP) coverage at Diego which is currently being drill tested.
It will allow for the construction of 3D models of induced polarisation chargeability and resistivity (conductivity) anomalism, which will be integrated with drilling data to improve geological knowledge and identify potential new drill targets.
Prolific region
The Las Petacas project is situated approximately 640km north of Santiago and 35km south of the regional capital of Copiapó in the prolific Atacama Desert region.
The low-altitude location is known for its significant mineral potential and hosts the world-class Candelaria mine (owned by Lundin Mining Corporation), 20km to the northeast of Las Petacas.
Copper mineralisation at Las Petacas is interpreted to be associated with the same regional structure as Candelaria.