According to Mining.com, ATEX Resources Inc. announced that drilling at its Valeriano copper-gold project in Chile's Atacama region encountered a high-grade ore body with a copper grade as high as 2.2%, the highest grade found so far in this porphyry copper deposit.
On Tuesday, the company stated that drill hole ATXD25A intersected 30 meters of mineralization at a depth of 1,892 meters, with a copper grade of 2.21%, gold 3.17 g/mt, silver 15.1 g/mt, and molybdenum 0.0003%. Additionally, at a depth of 1,896 meters, it intersected 16 meters of mineralization, with a copper grade of 3.04%, gold 4.82 g/mt, silver 21.1 g/mt, and molybdenum 0.0005%.
Ben Pullinger, President and CEO of the company, said, "Valeriano continues to deliver high-grade intercepts, setting new records for the project, which is getting better and better."
ATXD25A extended the high-grade porphyry ore body by 1,000 meters, still uncontrolled, according to Pullinger.
Resource Update Imminent
On Tuesday, BMO Capital Markets analyst Rene Cartier noted in an investment alert that ATEX's Phase V drilling has consistently reported good results, which bodes well for expanding the resource base in H2. At that time, the inferred resources are expected to be upgraded to indicated resources.
The company announced in 2023 that the inferred mineral resource was 1.4 billion mt, with a copper grade of 0.49%, gold 0.21 g/mt, silver 0.99 g/mt, and molybdenum 0.00624%. In terms of metal content, this equates to 7 million mt of copper, 9.5 million ounces of gold, 46.1 million ounces of silver, and 90,100 mt of molybdenum.
Agnico Eagle Investment
ATEX's Phase V drilling program received C$55 million in funding from Agnico Eagle Mines last October, giving the latter a 13% stake in ATEX.
The high-grade section of ATXD25A is located 1,000 meters below the B2B zone of Valeriano, and the ATXD25B hole will test this new target. Currently, two drills are operating in the B2B zone.
Another significant intersection at Valeriano was in the ATXD16B hole, which intersected 780 meters of mineralization at a depth of 1,044 meters, with a copper grade of 0.56%, gold 0.23 g/mt, silver 0.9 g/mt, and molybdenum 0.0090%. This includes a 232-meter section with a copper grade of 0.75%, gold 0.31 g/mt, silver 1.2 g/mt, and molybdenum 0.0088%. The hole also extended the high-grade porphyry ore body 120 meters to the southeast without penetrating it.
The ATXD23A hole intersected 1,220 meters of mineralization at a depth of 822 meters, with a copper grade of 0.66%, gold 0.28 g/mt, silver 1.9 g/mt, and molybdenum 0.013%. This includes a 22-meter section with a copper grade of 2.35%, gold 1.31 g/mt, silver 8.6 g/mt, and molybdenum 0.0029%.
To date, 9,675 meters have been completed in five holes of the Phase V drilling, with another five holes currently in progress. The Valeriano project covers 61.3 square kilometers and is located 200 kilometers southeast of Puerto Vásquez, near the border between Chile and Argentina.
