Rich Ore Found in Drilling at Chile's Valeriano Copper-Gold Mine

According to Mining.com, ATEX Resources Inc. announced that drilling at its Valeriano copper-gold mine in Chile's Atacama region encountered ore with a copper grade as high as 2.2%, the highest grade found so far at this porphyry copper deposit.

On Tuesday, the company said that drill hole ATXD25A intersected 30 meters of mineralization at a depth of 1,892 meters, with a copper grade of 2.21%, 3.17 g/t gold, 15.1 g/t silver, and 0.0003% molybdenum. Additionally, at 1,896 meters, it intersected 16 meters with a copper grade of 3.04%, 4.82 g/t gold, 21.1 g/t silver, and 0.0005% molybdenum.

Ben Pullinger, President and CEO, stated, "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 mineralization by 1,000 meters, still uncontrolled, according to Pullinger.

Upcoming resource update

On Tuesday, BMO Capital Markets analyst Rene Cartier noted in an investment alert that ATEX's Phase 5 drilling continues to report good results, which will help the company expand its resources in H2. At that time, inferred resources are expected to be upgraded to indicated resources.

The company announced in 2023 that the inferred ore resources were 1.4 billion mt, with a copper grade of 0.49%, 0.21 g/t gold, 0.99 g/t silver, and 0.00624% molybdenum. 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 5 drilling program was supported by a CAD 55 million investment from Agnico Eagle Mines in October last year, giving the latter a 13% stake in ATEX.

The high-grade section of ATXD25A is 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%, 0.23 g/t gold, 0.9 g/t silver, and 0.0090% molybdenum. This included 232 meters of mineralization with a copper grade of 0.75%, 0.31 g/t gold, 1.2 g/t silver, and 0.0088% molybdenum. The hole also extended the high-grade porphyry mineralization 120 meters to the southeast, without penetrating.

ATXD23A intersected 1,220 meters of mineralization at a depth of 822 meters, with a copper grade of 0.66%, 0.28 g/t gold, 1.9 g/t silver, and 0.013% molybdenum. This included 22 meters of mineralization with a copper grade of 2.35%, 1.31 g/t gold, 8.6 g/t silver, and 0.0029% molybdenum.

To date, 9,675 meters have been completed in five holes of the Phase 5 drilling, with another five holes 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.