Panoro Minerals has reported new assay results from its Cotabambas copper-gold-silver project in southern Peru, with drill hole CB-230 intersecting 808.15 metres grading 0.22% copper, 0.10 g/t gold and 1.53 g/t silver, equivalent to 0.31% CuEq using Panoro’s stated metal-price and metallurgical-recovery assumptions. The interval was encountered from 296.35 metres to 1,104.50 metres downhole.
Within the broader mineralised interval, CB-230 returned 240.15 metres grading 0.32% copper, including 156.50 metres at 0.38% copper and a higher-grade 48.10-metre interval at 0.57% copper, 0.25 g/t gold and 4.08 g/t silver. Drill hole CB-229 separately intersected 303.30 metres at 0.14% copper, including 69.90 metres at 0.27% copper.
Panoro said the latest drilling, together with previously reported hole CB-228, indicates continuity of the higher-grade mineralisation across approximately 600 metres of strike and from surface to more than 1,100 metres depth. Mineralisation remains open, and additional holes CB-231, CB-232 and CB-233 have commenced to test further extensions around and below the South Pit.
The latest results strengthen Panoro’s geological case for expanding the higher-grade component of the Cotabambas resource, particularly as drilling has yet to define the limits of mineralisation around the South Pit. Cotabambas currently hosts 507.3 Mt of indicated resources and 496.0 Mt of inferred resources, with a higher-grade component of 129.0 Mt indicated and 93.1 Mt inferred. However, the project remains in the exploration and development stage, meaning the new intersections have no immediate impact on copper supply and will need to be incorporated into future resource modelling and technical studies before their economic significance can be assessed.
