Altiplano Metals (TSXV APN / WKN A2JNFG) has been successfully producing copper concentrate at its El Penon processing plant in Chile for some time. The source material is to come to an ever greater extent from the company’s Santa Beatriz Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) mine, located just 30 kilometers away. Now, the company of CEO Alastair McIntyre reports positive results from the first own drilling on the mine site.
Altiplano completed four diamond core drill holes with a total length of 655.6 meters – and confirmed the continuity of the vein over a length of 100 meters along the strike and down to about 40 meters below the deepest mine level exploited to date!
Altiplano Metals confirms grades of up to 15.29% copper
The (weighted) average grade of the drill holes was a solid 1.33% copper, 0.20 g/t gold, and 29.00% iron (Altiplano also produces an iron ore concentrate). The best mineralization section recorded 2.37% copper, 0.30 g/t gold, and 36.12% iron, with 1.5 meters of this section mineralized at 4.11% copper, 0.53 g/t gold, and 35.11% iron. The highest-grade sample from this drill hole (25SB_004) returned an impressive 15.29% copper, 1.91 g/t gold, and 44.3% iron over 35 cm.
The company also notes that anomalous molybdenum values of up to 0.04% Mo, as well as potassium alterations and magnetite veinlets, indicate the potential for porphyry-style mineralization at depth.
CEO McIntyre emphasizes the significance of the now confirmed continuity of the Santa Beatriz vein system along strike and at depth. He added: “We are also encouraged by the increasing grades at depth, similar to our observations at Farellon. The positive results confirm our plan to advance mine development at deeper levels to supply material to the mill at El Peñón. The geological information from the drill cores and samples is also encouraging, indicating greater exploration potential within the property and district.”
We also find it interesting that the high copper grades from the best drill hole, 25SB_004, are consistent with high-grade copper grades from samples taken underground at level 414 of the Santa Beatriz mine, demonstrating the continuity of the vein at depth, as the company explained.
Conclusion: We consider the now presented drilling results from Santa Beatriz to be very positive for Altiplano Metals, as they mean that the company can now pursue its plan to develop the mine at greater depth with greater confidence. According to Mr. McIntyre, this clears the way to extract further material for the El Peñón plant at Santa Beatriz. And that in an environment with copper prices significantly of 5 USD per ounce
