Lundin unveils initial mineral resource at Filo del Sol

Lundin Mining Corp. [LUN-TSX; LUMI-Sweden] and partner BHP Group Limited [BHP-NYSE, BHPLF-OTCPK] have announced an initial mineral resource at the Filo Del Sol in Chile, demonstrating one of the world’s largest copper, gold and silver resources.

Filo del Sol (FDS) project is a high-sulphidation epithermal deposit associated with one or more large porphyry gold systems.

Lundin Mining shares advanced on the news, rising 2.4% or 28 cents to $11.95. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $17.97 and $8.94.

In December 2024, BHP and Lundin said they had struck a deal to acquire Filo Mining Corp. in a deal that was valued at $4.1 billion.

Prior to the announcement, the Lundin Family Trusts owned a 33% stake in Filo Mining, while BHP held 6.0%.

Concurrently with the completion of the Filo acquisition, Lundin Mining and BHP formed a 50/50 joint venture (Vicuna Corp.) to hold FDS and Lundin’s Josemaria project. Prior to reaching the deal with BHP, Lundin Mining owned 100% of the Josemaria project, an advanced-stage copper project located approximately 10 kilometres from FDS in San Juan Province, Argentina.

In return, BHP pledged to pay Lundin US$690 million in cash. The joint venture aims to create a long-term partnership to jointly develop an emerging copper district with world class potential that could support a globally-ranked mining complex.

The proximity of the Filo del Sol and Josemaria projects allows for greater economies of scale, shared infrastructure and increased optionality for staged expansions to support a globally ranked mining complex.

In its press release, Lundin said Vicuna Corp. has completed an initial mineral resource estimate for the Filo del Sol sulphide deposit, and updates to the mineral resource estimate for the Filo del Sol oxide and Josemaria deposits.

Vacuna Mineral Resource highlights, including a ranking in the top 10 for mineral resources of the largest producing copper mines in the world. Highlights include contained copper of 13 million tonnes (measured and indicated) and 25 million tonnes inferred. It also features contained gold of 32 million ounces (measured and indicated) and 49 million ounces inferred. The estimate includes 659 million ounces of contained silver (measured and indicated) and 808 million ounces of inferred.

Lundin went on to say that the Filo del Sol and Josemaria deposits have significant high-grade mineralization that could provide the initial years of mining.

Filo del Sol is estimated to host a high-grade core of 606 million tonnes (measured and indicated) at 1.14% copper equivalent (CuEq)  (0.74% copper) for contained metal of 4.5 million tonnes of copper, 9.6 million ounces of gold and 259 million ounces of silver.

Josemaria is estimated to host a near-surface high-grade core of 196 million tonnes (measured and indicated) at 0.73% CuEq (0.50% copper) for contained metal of 978,000 tonnes of copper, 2.4 million ounces of gold and 11 million ounces of silver.