Fitzroy Minerals (TSX-V:FTZ) is planning approximately 5,500m of diamond drilling to test four geophysical targets at its Caballos Copper Project in Chile.
The five-hole program is scheduled to begin in September 2026 and will target the C2-B, C3, and C4 anomalies, along with extensions to mineralisation previously intersected at Chincolco Creek.
Southernrock Geophysics completed four deep induced polarisation (IP) survey lines covering 18.4 line kilometres across conductivity anomalies identified by an airborne MobileMT survey in April.
The largest target, C2-B, comprises conductivity and chargeability anomalies spanning more than 3km east–west.
Fitzroy interprets the anomaly as having a ‘classic porphyry’ signature, with a highly chargeable and conductive outer zone surrounding a less chargeable core. The company says such a configuration can occur in porphyry copper deposits, although drilling is required to determine the source of the responses.
A second target, C4, is approximately 1km wide and 1km deep. It lies near the intersection of the north–south Pocuro Fault Zone and an east–west structure occupied by the Alicahue River.
CEO Merlin Marr-Johnson says the IP responses coincide with conductivity anomalies identified in the earlier MobileMT survey.
“The largest IP anomaly, C2-B, is consistent with a classic porphyry signature, comprising a strongly conductive and chargeable outer shell surrounding an inner core,” Marr-Johnson says.
Previous drilling on the edge of the broader geophysical system intersected copper, molybdenum, and gold mineralisation within a comparatively weak chargeability anomaly.
At Chincolco Creek, the new modelling also indicates the C3 anomaly may extend southwards and at depth along the Pocuro Fault Zone.
The IP survey investigated depths of approximately 1,500m, while accompanying magnetotelluric surveying targeted depths of up to 3,000m.
Fitzroy says it eventually plans to fund exploration at Caballos using cash flow from its Buen Retiro heap-leach operation in the Copiapó district. However, that funding source remains dependent on future production and cash generation.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Fitzroy Minerals
