Alvo goes VOLCANIC at Palma with massive copper-zinc resource upgrade

Alvo Minerals increases open pit resources at the Palma project in Brazil by 65%
Includes update to indicated resources at C1 and C3 deposits plus maiden resource at C4
Company confident of upside with more drilling planned

Special Report: Alvo Minerals has updated the mineral resource estimate at its high-grade Palma copper-zinc VMS project in Central Brazil, increasing open pit resources by a massive 65%.

The open pit resources now stand at 7.6Mt at 2% copper equivalent, with the project estimated to contain more than 150,000 copper equivalent tonnes.

The MRE update lifts the indicated resources at the C1 and C3 deposits to 3.3Mt at 2.3% copper equivalent or 6.9% zinc equivalent (1% copper, 4% zinc, 0.4% lead, 14g/t silver and 0.03g/t gold).

It also includes a maiden resource for the newly discovered C4 deposit of 1.5Mt at 1.8% copper equivalent or 5.5% zinc equivalent (0.2%, 3.3% zinc, 1.3% lead, 28g/t silver and 0.03g/t gold).

Alvo Minerals (ASX:ALV) also included a maiden MRE for the near surface oxide component of the C3 deposit of 1.2Mt at 0.3% copper (0.15% Cu cut-off).

District-scale VMS play

The company says the updated MRE significantly increases the high-grade open-pit resource base, demonstrating the potential for Palma to emerge as a globally significant volcanogenic massive sulphide district.

Among the major types of copper deposits, VMS accumulations tend to be smaller in tonnage but far higher in grade than bulkier porphyry and iron-oxide copper-gold deposits, and typically have significant base and precious metal by-product credits like zinc, lead, silver and gold.

“We are really pleased to deliver such an important upgrade in size and confidence on our Palma copper-zinc project in Brazil,” ALV MD Rob Smakman said.

“We now have >150,000t of copper-equivalent in resources, a size sufficient to consider development options for the project.

“The fundamentals of the deposits are sound – high grades near-surface, clean and standard metallurgy, receptive community and access to enviable infrastructure.

“We are confident that a development pathway can utilise these resources as a solid base.

“In addition to the increases in resources at C1 and C3, which are enhanced by the significant volume of indicated material, we are encouraged by the maiden estimate of oxide resources at C3 and excited by the maiden MRE for C4 – an early success from our multi-disciplinary exploration efforts.

“Both of the maiden results have excellent upside potential, and we intend to continue working on these new prospects in coming months.”

Perfect time to be in copper

Notably, at Net Smelter Return cut-off of US$50/t for the resources at C1 and C3 and US$80/t for C4, the total MRE comprises 7.6Mt at 2.0% copper equivalent or 6.2% zinc equivalent.

And at a lower NSR of US$20/t for C1, C3 and C4, the open-pit MRE comprises 14.6Mt at 1.3% copper equivalent or 3.8% zinc equivalent. That means it is leveraged to growth as copper and zinc prices rise in the years ahead as analysts project.

“2024 has seen stronger copper and zinc prices, with most analysts forecasting continued strength going forward,” Smakman said.

“We firmly believe it’s an ideal time to be actively exploring for these critical metals and the diamond drilling program currently underway is an exciting part of Alvo’s future.

“We are confident that each day we are getting closer to another major discovery in the Palma district.”

Upside potential and drilling continuing

The company continues to test high-priority targets across the >70km of prospective VMS strike which could add significantly to the growing inventory.

All Deposits remain open along strike and at depth, are potentially mineable by open pit methods and have potential to expand and upgrade with additional drilling and metallurgical studies.

The focus for ALV is now on assessing the district scale potential of Palma through ongoing diamond drilling of 8 out of 15 untested high priority targets defined by EM, IP, geochemistry and auger drilling.

Smakman said the growth over the past drilling campaigns at Palma confirmed the company’s confidence in the project since partnering with the Brazilian Geological Survey in 2019.

“We expect that growth to continue as we progress exploring and pursuing the opportunities highlighted by this MRE update,” he said.

This article was developed in collaboration with Alvo Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.