Altiplano Metals: First delivery from Santa Beatriz copper and gold mine expected shortly

With the El Peñón copper, gold and iron ore processing plant, Canada’s Altiplano Metals (WKN A2JNFG / TSXV APN) has an extremely valuable asset in Chile. To date, the plant, where a new crusher has just been installed to increase capacity, has been supplied with material from the Farellon underground mine (copper, gold and iron); however, it is expected ore from the Santa Beatriz mine will also be fed into the plant in the near future. And Altiplano is now providing an update in that regard.

The company has just announced that it has extended the option to acquire Santa Beatriz, the mine is located just 13 kilometers from the El Peñón plant, by one year to December 2025. According to the company, this gives it the opportunity to continue exploration and mining development. The original conditions for the purchase of the mine remain unchanged, while the monthly fees will increase from 3.5 to 5 million Chilean pesos (4,850 euros).

Mining permit can be quickly extended to 5,000 tons per month

Santa Beatriz currently already has a production permit for 2,000 tons per month, although this capacity can be expanded to 5,000 tons per month in accordance with the National Small Mining approval process. Altiplano intends to take this step, which according to the company can be completed within a few weeks of submitting the application, directly when the timing is right. The company also already has the permits for the use and storage of explosives for ongoing mining operations.

Altiplano is also pushing ahead with work in preparation for the extraction of copper, gold and iron ore material at Santa Beatriz, which is to be processed at the El Peñón plant.

According to the company, the dewatering and repair of the deeper parts of the mine have already been completed. In addition, Altiplano has uncovered, investigated, mapped and sampled an additional 150 meters of the historic mine area. And the company has identified an initial zone with 3,500 tons of mineralized material from which bulk samples are to be taken.

All in all, the first delivery to the plant is planned for the beginning of this month, already!

A larger copper and gold system?

The Santa Beatriz mine is located just 2 kilometers from the Farellon mine and the IOCG-style veins at Farellon and Santa Beatriz have similar mineral characteristics and a northeast orientation. According to Altiplano, this indicates that mineralogy of the projects in the area could be part of a larger system. The company sees the potential for the development of a high-grade copper and iron resource with associated gold at Santa Beatriz, particularly due to the similarities to Farellon

At Farellon, Altiplano generated CAD 22.5 million after processing costs between December 2018 and September 2024 from the extraction and sale of more than 6.95 million pounds of copper. Similar success is now hoped for at Santa Beatriz, although no advanced technical study to support a potential production decision has been prepared to substantiate this in advance.

We are looking forward to the further news flow in 2025, not only from the Santa Beatriz mine, and hope that further progress will be made quickly!