Marimaca Copper (ASX:MC2) has extended drilling at the Pampa Medina Norte Project within the northern extension of the Pampa Medina deposit in Chile, following results at recently discovered drillhole SMD-01.
Located 26km from Marimaca’s flagship oxide deposit, drillhole SMD-01 was the first target of diamond drilling and the depth-extension of reverse circulation drilling.
Results from the upper section of SMD-01 include 20m at 2.25% copper titanium from 298m and 32m at 1.03% copper titanium from 332m, validating previous reverse circulation drilling.
The company says this drillhole was orientated to target perpendicular intersections of the key manto-hosting lithological units, though true widths are yet to be determined.
Assays from 600m to the final depth of 950m are still pending.
One of the two additional diamond drillholes, SMD-02, has encountered visual copper mineralisation in the upper manto and polymetallic mineralisation in a lower metasedimentary unit at depth. This drillhole is located 650m south of SMD-02.
Sample preparation is underway with results to be released once made available.
Vice President of Exploration Sergio Rivera says the company is impressed by the scale and intensity of mineralisation at the project, with potential for stacked mantos.
“We are encouraged by the continuation of mineralisation at depth, especially the visual bornite and chalcopyrite,” Rivera says.
“These findings also serve to further improve our understanding of the sulphide body which has the potential to be highly accretive to the high-quality overlying oxide leachable manto, where our PEA (preliminary economic assessment) for the integration into the MOD (Marimaca Oxide Deposit) is progressing.”
Marimaca Copper is an exploration company focused on the development of copper at its flagship project located in Chile.
Global demand is forecast to grow by 1.6% in 2025, reaching almost 29.1 million tonnes. Beyond 2025, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) March 2025 Resources and Energy Quarterly reports demand should increase by an average 2.5% annually, reaching 33.2 million tonnes by 2030.
Key drivers include average global economic growth, rising usage in consumer appliances, energy transition infrastructure, and construction of data centres for use in AI.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Marimaca Copper
