High tonnage copper at Picha? Drilling at Firetail’s Fundicion target uncovers evidence of a porphyry system

Drilling at the Fundicion target uncovers porphyry copper mineralisation potential
Firetail’s maiden 5,000m diamond drill program almost 40% complete
Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer

Special Report: Completion of the first drill hole at the Fundicion target at Firetail Resources’ flagship Picha copper project in Peru has identified evidence of a potentially large porphyry mineralised system.

Porphyry copper deposits account for >60% of the world’s copper and include other important metals such as molybdenum, gold and silver – and are known for their low grades and very high tonnage.

Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer, so it’s no wonder that mining majors such as Vale, BHP, Rio and Newmont all operate in-country, where the Peruvian government provides attractive T&C’s for foreign investment.

Aussie explorer Firetail Resources’ (ASX:FTL) is right in the heart of the Andean nation’s copper mining region near the Bolivian border where it is focused on the Picha copper-silver project.

Drilling is currently under way at four main target areas.

Uncovering porphyry potential

FTL’s maiden diamond drilling program comprising 10 drill holes for ~5,000m at Picha is nearing completion.

Four high-priority targets for the drill campaign – Cobremani, Cumbre Coya, Maricate and Fundicion – show the potential for high-grade copper mineralisation.

Recent channel sampling showed Maricate has a surface geochemical anomaly that includes a sample of 17.6m @ 1.95% copper, while the Cumbra Coya target sampled 32.85m @ 0.61% copper and 209g/t silver.

At the Cobremani target, a sample of 41.6m @1.12% copper and 22.85g/t silver, and a strong geophysical anomaly at ~200m depth was intersected, while Fundicion has chargeable anomalies at depth of up to ~300m.

Latest findings

Drilled down to a depth of 520.5m, indicators of a porphyry system were identified at hole 23PFND0001 at the Fundicion target from around 250m, with mineralisation that includes silver, bornite, covellite and chalcopyrite, together with significant quartz veining and alteration.

Samples have been sent to the laboratory for analysis and results are expected in early February. FTL anticipates that follow-up drilling will take place at the target as part of the current drill program.

An additional hole has also been completed at each of the Maricate and Cumbre Coya targets, with further drilling at Cumbre Coya currently underway following the intersection of visible secondary copper mineralisation in the first drill hole.

More drilling to come

FTL executive chair Brett Grosvenor says the team is very encouraged by the alteration and veining observed at the Fundicion target, which are indicative of a potential porphyry system.

“These indicators provide the vectors and the confidence to continue drill testing Fundicion and receipt of these latest results continues to validate the prospectivity of the Picha project and the potential to host a large mineral system,” Grosvenor says.

“We are less than 40% through our initial program and the results continue to be highly encouraging.

“The team onsite remains focused on completing the maiden program and further assays and results are due in early February and our expectation is that they will continue to confirm our findings to date.”

Next steps at Picha include further drilling of Cumbre Coya and Fundicion targets to test geophysical chargeability anomalies, as well as mapping and sampling of new targets for drill hole target generation.

This article was developed in collaboration with Firetail Resources, 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.