Flagship bags district-scale Chilean copper-gold project

Résumé détaillé

Flagship Minerals secured an option over the district-scale Fortuna Valle copper-gold project in Chile’s prolific Coquimbo region, boasting widespread historical drill hits.

Flagship Minerals has added another string to its South American bow, securing an option to acquire the district-scale Fortuna Valle copper-gold project in northern Chile’s prolific Coquimbo region.

The deal provides the company with a path to 100 per cent ownership of a massive 265-square-kilometre land package, complete with a suite of historical exploration data, including previous drill results of up to 22 metres at 0.37 per cent copper and 0.38 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from just 26m downhole.

Fortuna Valle sits in the heart of the nation’s Coastal Cordillera belt, a globally recognised address for major copper and gold discoveries. The wider Coquimbo region is a well-established mining powerhouse and home to some serious players right on Flagship’s doorstep. Nearby heavyweights include Teck Resources’ Carmen de Andacollo copper-gold mine and Hot Chili’s massive Costa Fuego project, which hosts a recently updated indicated resource containing 2.9 million tonnes of copper and 2.6 million ounces of gold.

Historical mining in the Fortuna Valle area has a long history of small-scale gold and copper extraction dating back to the 1820’s. More modern exploration followed in the early 1990’s when mining giant Freeport-McMoRan moved in, recording average grades of 3–4g/t gold from underground sampling at the historic Venero Negro mine.

Previous scout drilling at the project has already confirmed an intrusive-related copper-gold system. Significant intercepts from that work included a 22-metre hit assaying 0.37 per cent copper and 0.38g/t gold from 26m, featuring a higher-grade 8-metre zone running at 0.62 per cent copper and 0.47g/t gold from 68m.

Flagship says the project provides a raft of untested and partially tested exploration targets, giving it the opportunity to advance district-scale copper-gold discoveries.

Flagship Minerals managing director Paul Lock said: “Copper has one of the strongest long-term supply-demand thematics, driven by a long term decline in global…

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