Libero Copper up 46% on Colombia drill results
Libero Copper & Gold Corp. [LBC-TSXV, LBCMF-OTCQB, 29H-DE] shares rose sharply in active trading Tuesday after the company released initial partial assay results from drilling at the Mocoa porphyry copper deposit in Putumayo, Colombia.
The company said it has received significant assay results from drill hole MD-043, which has been completed to a depth of 1,235 metres. Assays reported Tuesday are to a down hole depth of 450 metres.
Highlights include 251 metres of 1.13% copper equivalent (CuEq) (0.75% copper and 0.114% molybdenum) from 139 metres to 390 metres.
“Broad intercepts of copper and molybdenum mineralization continue well beyond the 450 metres of assay results reported in this news release,” Libero Copper said in a press statement, Tuesday.
The shares rose sharply on the news, jumping 46% or 33 cents to $1.05 on volume of 1.5 million. The shares were previously trading in a 52-week range of 89 cents and 33.5 cents.
Libero Copper is an America’s-focused exploration company with a collection of porphyry copper deposits located in British Columbia, Argentina and Colombia.
The Mocoa porphyry-copper-molybdenum deposit is situated on the Jurrasic porphyry belt which extends through Ecuador and Colombia. Libero has outlined a pit-constrained resource of 636 million tonnes of 0.33% copper, containing 4.6 billion pounds of copper and 511 million pounds of molybdenum.
The company has previously said that Mocoa is open in both directions, along strike and at depth. Additional porphyry targets have been identified and are drill ready.
“Hole MD-043 is starting to demonstrate the real potential of the Mocoa porphyry copper and molybdenum deposit with assay results returned to date confirming the exceptional grade, thickness and strength of the mineralizing system present in the area,” said Libero President and CEO Ian Harris.
“The Mocoa resource is already the largest copper resource in Colombia and will play a key role in the country’s goals of becoming the third largest producer of copper in South America, a metal that is indispensable in the decarbonization of the world’s economy.”
In a March 30, 2022, press release, Libero said hole (MD-043) is the first to be drilled on the property since 2012. The company said it had passed its target depth of 1,000 metres, making this hole the deepest on the property to date. The company said it had taken the decision to extend the hole to 1,200 metres as it continues to intercept favourable copper mineralization.
Hole MD-043 is the first hole in the current phase of diamond drilling. MD-043 is designed to confirm mineralization and in-fill an area targeting the “blank zone” between two separate high grade zones in the deposit.
The Mocoa deposit was discovered in 1973 via a regional stream sediment geochemical survey. B2Gold Corp. [BTO-TSX] subsequently executed diamond drill programs between 2008 and 2012.