NGEx Minerals (TSX:NGEX) says phase four drilling has extended the Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter zones and identified a new mineralised area at its Lunahuasi Copper–Gold–Silver Project in Argentina.
The company completed 32 holes for 27,318m before concluding the program in late April. Final assays were released on 30 July.
Hole DPDH064 returned a continuous 1,540.10m @ 1.17% copper equivalent (CuEq), including 88m @ 8.65% CuEq from Saturn. The broader intercept also contained 501.10m @ 0.73% CuEq within the adjacent porphyry system.
Step-out holes expanded Saturn by more than 100m up-dip and down-plunge, while drilling at Mars supported NGEx’s interpretation of a mineralised structure measuring at least 200m along strike and 250m down-dip.
At Jupiter, DPDH077 intersected 57.75m @ 9.41% CuEq, including 19m @ 25.84% CuEq. NGEx says this result, alongside previous intersections, has outlined the zone across an area of about 400m by 500m.
Geotechnical hole DPGT004 also identified a mineralised zone 300m east of Mars, returning 23.10m @ 4.72% CuEq, including 4.20m @ 17.94% CuEq.
Phase four drilling intersected gold-rich quartz veins across the system. DPDH070 returned 17.30m @ 207.79 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), including 2m @ 1,740g/t, while DPDH063 intersected 4.88m @ 60.10g/t Au. The holes were drilled about 660m apart.
CEO Wojtek Wodzicki says the results extended mineralisation beyond the limits established by earlier drilling and improved the company’s understanding of the deposit.
“Through recent drill results, we now have a better understanding of the Lunahuasi porphyry, which we now know includes a large breccia body with significant copper and gold grades, and have identified new high-grade structures,” he says.
NGEx says it expects to begin phase five drilling in the December quarter, targeting extensions to known zones and additional exploration targets. Planning for a proposed underground exploration adit is continuing.
The company ended June with C$463.3 million ($470.4 million) in net working capital, including C$81.2 million in cash and C$133.5 million in short-term investments.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: NGEx Minerals
