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Los Andes Copper reports excellent initial results from drilling at Chile project

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Los Andes Copper [TSXV:LA / OTCQX:LSANF] is reporting new results from its copper project in Chile this morning with excellent initial results in from its CMV-001B hole at an aggregate of 732 metres. The drill came up with an estimated average grade of 0.51% copper equivalent.

Regular readers will be familiar with our mining expert Roger Breuer‘s excellent article on Los Andes Copper. The miner owns 100% of the Vizcachitas Project in Chile, a copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit, located 120 kilometres north of Santiago, in an area of very good infrastructure.

The average grades include 0.51% copper and 160 parts per million molybdenum from 64m to 820m down the hole. Assay grades for the interval reported for silver are still pending, as are the values from 820m down the hole to end of hole at 1,265.15m.

R. Michael Jones, CEO of Los Andes Copper, shed further light on the results: “Hole CMV-001B is important for two reasons: firstly, it demonstrates and confirms the scale of the good grades at Vizcachitas starting from the collar in rock; secondly, the hole is near the western limit of the resources and shows clear potential for further resources to the west…Though we are still awaiting assay grades for the interval reported for silver, it is important to note that silver typically reports to approximately 1% of the value on the deposit.”

Los Andes’ Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the site, delivered in June 2019, highlights that the project has a post tax NPV of $1.8 billion and an IRR of 20.77%, based on a $3 per pound copper price. It also has a Measured Resources of 254.4 million tonnes having a grade of 0.439% copper and an Indicated Resource of approximately 1.03 billion tonnes having a grade of 0.385% copper.

As we noted in our earlier analysis of this project, “this is a considerable amount of metal, made all the more interesting since according to their 2019 technical report, there is ‘continuous mineralisation occurring near the surface’ and so can be mined by open-pit and ‘the project is in close proximity to extensive infrastructure, including port facilities, railway lines, and high-tension substations.’”

Jones said the ongoing drilling program is testing areas in and below the PEA shell. There are several large areas that are taken as waste inside the previous pit designs that are classified as waste due to having no, or very limited drill testing.

First opportunity for deeper drilling around good grade holes

The historical fragmented land and permit position resulted in areas within the PEA pit not having any proper drill testing. The current drill program has many opportunities to offset known good grade holes with adjacent or deeper drilling into areas with no drill testing.

“Converting waste blocks inside the pit design to resources would add value and as the deposit and grade profile changes, so too does the opportunity for an improved new mine plan,” Jones explained.

The Los Andes Copper geological team at Vizcachitas has been expanded to several senior geologists with decades of experience on the largest porphyry copper deposits in Chile.

Investors should note that the Vizcachitas project is being explored for the first time in recent history with the new ability to drill across the whole property. The controls of copper and molybdenum mineralisation are being modelled by the new team collaborating and having the ability to explore the full project mineralising system.

Here are drilling results from Hole CMV-001B:

Table Meters Cu % Mo ppm Ag –Pending CuEq %
64-156 m 92 0.57 63 0.59
156-180 m – lost core
180–820 m 640 0.44 174 0.50
Average of 732m 0.51 % Cu 160 ppm Mo 0.51 % CuEq

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This article does not constitute investment advice. Do your own research or consult a professional advisor.

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