NGEx tables copper-gold exploration update
NGEx Minerals Ltd. [NGEX-TSXV] has released an update on its plans for 2022 and says it spent $8.6 million on exploration in the first quarter of 2022.
The company anticipates that it will deploy the majority of its treasury, including $16 million in cash and net working capital of $116 million, to fund ongoing work programs at Los Helados in Chile and Valle Ancho in Argentina.
NGEx is the majority partner and operator at the large-scale Los Helados copper-gold deposit, subject to a joint exploration agreement with Nippon Caserones Resources Co. Ltd. The project is located in Chile’s Region 111.
Los Helados is located 16 kilometres north of the Filo del Sol deposit where Filo Mining Corp. [FIL-TSXV, NASDAQ First North] is drilling a major copper-gold discovery. Filo del Sol and Los Helados lie along the same major northeast-trending structure which controls a series of alteration zones, representing high-quality exploration targets, between the two deposits.
Recent drilling at Los Helados returned 1,016.3 metres at 0.65% copper equivalent (CuEq) from a depth of 42 metres, including 294 metres at 0.87% CuEq from a depth of 201 metres, and 140 metres at 0.83% CuEq from a depth of 606 metres.
“The initial results from the ongoing brownfield drill program at Los Helados have confirmed continuity of the high-grade core of the deposit and extension of this high-grade material in multiple areas,” said NGEx President and CEO Wojtek Wodzicki.
The 2022 drill program at Los Helados is currently ongoing with three rigs and is expected to continue until mid-June. The program is designed to further define and potentially extend the high grade core of the Lost Helados deposit, which is defined by a 0.7% copper equivalent (CuEq) shell within the current mineral resource model. The program will also probe for potential satellite high-grade zones.
In March, 2022, the company concluded the first drill program at the Valle Ancho copper-gold project in Catamarca Province, Argentina. The company focused its maiden drill program on three high priority targets and completed 3,060 metres of diamond drilling in eight holes. This resulted in the discovery of a new copper-gold porphyry system at the La Quebrada target and expansion of the near-surface, oxide gold zone at the Nordin target.
While both targets require additional drilling to enable a full assessment of the size, scale and significance of the identified mineralization, the company said results from drilling in 2021 and 2022 at Valle Ancho have validated its earlier reconnaissance and target generation work, and also confirm the prospectivity of the large and underexplored Valle Ancho land package, which is located on the Argentinian said of the Maricunga Gold Belt.
NGEx said the completion of the 2021/2022 field and drill program at Valle Ancho has substantially addressed the company’s US$8 million expenditure requirement to earn-into the Valle Ancho project, which must be met by the end of 2022. The company said it anticipates making the remaining earn-in expenditures prior to the required deadline.
On Friday, NGEx shares eased 0.36% or $0.01 to $2.77 and currently trade in a 52-week range of $4.22 and 53 cents.