Shares in Culpeo Minerals (ASX:CPO) have spiked after the company reported the discovery of a ‘substantial’ copper-gold porphyry system at the La Florida prospect within its Fortuna Project in Chile.
The junior explorer has reported the results from a first-pass rock chip sampling program at the new prospect, delineating a 1.7km-by-0.5km porphyry system with sample grades of up to 3.96% copper and 2.61 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
As part of the program, Culpeo collected 14 rock chip samples from historical small-scale mine workings, outcrops, and subcrops on hills where bedrock and fresh rock were visible in the prospect area.
According to the company, all 14 holes returned anomalous copper and gold results.
Culpeo adds that the mineralisation styles in this area are analogous to its Lana Corina prospect, from which the company has reported drill intersections such as 257m @ 1.1% copper equivalent (CuEq) and 169m @ 1.21% CuEq.
Following today’s (4 January) news, Culpeo shares are up 31.82% to $0.058 as of 11:15am AEDT.
Managing Director Max Tuesley says these new results demonstrate the potential for copper and gold mineralisation at La Florida and enhance the prospectivity of the recently acquired Fortuna Project.
“With drilling underway of near-surface targets at the Vaca Muerta and El Quillay prospects, [these results] demonstrate the scale and abundance of targets within this regionally extensive copper system.
This is a very exciting development for Culpeo, and we look forward to reporting results from our regional exploration and drilling programs at Fortuna during 2024.”
“This is a very exciting development for Culpeo, and we look forward to reporting results from our regional exploration and drilling programs at Fortuna during 2024”
As diamond drilling continues at other key prospects in the Fortuna area, Culpeo is awaiting assays from El Quillay drill samples, which are expected before the end of January.
The company is now planning follow-up infill sampling at La Florida to further define the copper-gold porphyry target in the area prior to drilling.
Meanwhile, Culpeo is plodding along with regional mapping programs along the EL Quillay trend and at the Piedra Dura and Lucero prospects, with drilling programs to follow.
Write to Joshua Smith at Mining.com.au
Images: Culpeo Minerals
