• Drilling returns 156m intercept at 0.51% copper equivalent at western extension of the Cerro deposit
  • Results indicates that further drilling to the west and depth are warranted in the next campaign
  • New 3D model incorporating the latest drilling and geological interpretation being constructed

 

Special Report: Southern Hemisphere is on a beeline towards increasing resources at its flagship Llahuin copper-gold project if initial – and very promising – assays from the 2023/24 drill program are any indicator.

The diamond and reverse circulation drilling at Llahuin – just 8km from Santiago-listed Pucobre’s El Espino copper-gold mine development – was aimed at delivering enough resources to extend mine life.

While Llahuin already has an open-pittable resource of 169Mt at 0.4% copper equivalent (CuEq), most of which is contained within the higher confidence measured and indicated categories, uncovering additional resource to support a 25-year mine life will just make it all that much sweeter from a potential development perspective.

Southern Hemisphere’s (ASX:SUH) 17-hole drill program was focused primarily on the Cerro and Ferro deposits, targeting resource expansion along strike and at depth.

It was guided by detailed structural mapping and surface sampling that had resulted in a new interpretation of the Llahuin mineralised system and a change in preferred drilling orientation.

 

Thick and higher grade

First assays have now indicated that the drilling has met SUH’s objective with hits topping at a thick 156m grading 0.51% CuEq from surface including 82m at 0.67% CuEq from 46m indicating that there is substantial exploration upside present, significantly higher grade than the current resource.

This intercept – and a further 136m at 0.47% CuEq hit – indicates that further drilling to test a western extension of the Cerro deposit is warranted.

SUH also noted that the drilling – mainly at the Cerro and Ferro deposits – proves that its new structural interpretation and revised drillhole orientation are effective.

 

Ongoing activity

The company is currently constructing a new 3D model incorporating the latest drilling and geological interpretation that will be followed by constrained manual interpretation.

Models from this work will be used to generate a revised resource estimate.

Terraspec data is also being systematically collected over Central Porphyry to aid identification of alteration assemblages associated with the deposit.

Should this be successful, SUH plans to extend the program to other deposits at Llahuin and assist vectoring towards higher grade feeder zones at depth feeding the known deposits.

Field mapping and surface sampling programs are also ongoing at the Southern Porphyry, extending northwards to the southern extent of Ferro.

This is aimed at defining the nature and extent of the mineralising systems, particularly at Southern Porphyry, which is a very large greenfield opportunity at the Llahuin project.

Southern Porphyry extends the strike length of the known mineralising system at Llahuin to about 3.7km. Further updates on this large target will be reported as the various stages of technical work is completed.

More assays from the drilling are also pending.

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Southern Hemisphere, 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.

Read MoreCopper

Featured Companies

You might be interested in