Minsud Resources (TSX-V:MSR) will commence a 10,500m diamond drilling program in August at its Chita Valley Polymetallic Project in San Juan, Argentina.
The program targets resource expansion and testing of multiple priority targets across the porphyry-epithermal system.
The drilling follows a National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource estimate. The project hosts 240 million tonnes (Mt) of indicated mineral resources grading 0.43% copper equivalent (CuEq) and 955Mt of 0.35% CuEq inferred, split between the Chinchillones polymetallic sulphide and Chita South porphyry oxide deposits.
The program will test Chinchillones (4,600m), Placetas (2,150m), Chita South porphyry (2,250m), and Pinto (1,500m). At Chinchillones, drilling will confirm extensions of several ‘high-grade’ hydrothermal breccia bodies.
One previous breccia returned 786m at 0.43% copper, 368 parts per million molybdenum, 0.23 grams per tonne gold, and 15.78g/t silver from 456m to 1,242m.
At Placetas, 3.5km southwest of Chinchillones, mapping confirmed lithologies similar to those hosting the Chinchillones deposit. A 206-sample soil survey outlined a coherent copper-molybdenum-gold anomaly at least 1km long and 0.5km wide.
Suspension period
Minsud has exercised a 12-month suspension period under its shareholders’ agreement with South32 (ASX:S32). During this period, South32 funds Minera Sud Argentina, while Minsud is not required to finance its 49.9% share.
Minsud CEO Agustin Dranovsky says the drilling program is designed to expand and potentially upgrade the resource base while testing high-priority targets across a largely underexplored district.
“We believe Chita Valley continues to offer substantial potential for resource growth and new discoveries, and that the combination of resource scale, exploration upside, excellent infrastructure and South32’s operatorship positions it among the most compelling copper development opportunities in Argentina,” Dranovsky notes.
Chita Valley is owned and managed by Minera Sud Argentina, in which Minsud holds a 49.9% interest. South32 holds the other 50.1%.
Minsud Resources is a Canadian explorer with a portfolio which includes the La Rosita Project in Argentina, in addition to its flagship Chita Valley asset.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Minsud Resources
