NGEx Minerals Ltd. is thrilled to announce its ambitious exploration plan for the Lunahuasi copper-gold-silver project in San Juan, Argentina. This upcoming drill program will be the largest ever conducted at Lunahuasi, marking a significant milestone in the company’s efforts to establish it as a top-tier high-grade copper and gold deposit.
The field team is already on site preparing for the arrival of drill rigs, with drilling expected to begin in early October. This Phase 3 campaign builds upon the remarkable success of the previous Phase 2 program, which delivered some of the world’s highest-grade copper, gold, and silver intercepts.
The Phase 2 program confirmed Lunahuasi’s potential for both exceptional grades and large size. The volume of mineralized rock tested so far measures a staggering 400 meters by 900 meters by 960 meters and is open in all directions, suggesting even greater dimensions remain to be discovered.
NGEx is poised for an exciting drill season, with the Phase 3 program targeting significant expansion beyond the current drill pattern. The company plans to utilize six drill rigs, totaling up to 20,000 meters of drilling, more than doubling the amount completed to date.
The primary objective of this program is to expand the deposit through step-out drilling and gather sufficient data to develop an initial Exploration Target. This will be a crucial step towards eventual resource estimation and ultimately, the development of a viable mining operation.
To enhance exploration efforts, NGEx will conduct a magneto-telluric geophysical survey. This survey will help define potential extensions of the deposit and potentially provide vectors toward the central part of the Lunahuasi system.
The company is also integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its geological interpretation processes to improve efficiency and accuracy. This will free up geologists to focus on more strategic targeting and interpretation tasks.
Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO of NGEx, commented:
“The upcoming drill program is focused on growing the Lunahuasi deposit, which remains open in all directions, and continuing to advance our understanding of this unusually high-grade deposit. Our interpretation, based on almost 18,000m of drilling completed, is that we have drilled only a small part of the Lunahuasi high-grade deposit, and that what we have discovered so far is likely to be the peripheral part of a much larger mineralized system.”“Exploration over the past few years in the Vicu ña District has demonstrated that this unique area is capable of forming extremely large and notably high-grade deposits, and our geological team is confident that Lunahuasi will continue to surprise to the upside.”
“Phase 1 drilling resulted in the initial discovery early in 2023, Phase 2 showed that the Lunahuasi deposit has exceptional grades throughout a large volume measuring at least 400m by 900m by 960m, and we expect Phase 3 will further extend mineralization and confirm Lunahuasi as one of the most significant discoveries of the last decade.”
Lunahuasi Phase 3 Drill Program Details
The Phase 3 drill program is designed to systematically explore the Lunahuasi deposit at three target scales:
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Long-range exploration holes (+300m spacing):
These holes will test for significant extensions of mineralization to the north, south, and west, and explore for the central part of the Lunahuasi system.*
Mid-range step-out holes (50-300m spacing):
These holes will explore extensions of the mineralized zone in all directions.*
Short-range infill holes (30-50m spacing):
These holes will test the short-range variability of mineralized structures and high-grade zones, ultimately contributing to the development of a future mineral resource estimate.The program is scheduled to start in early October and continue until the onset of the Austral winter, typically in May. Six drill rigs have been contracted, including rigs capable of drilling beyond 2,000 meters, ensuring the company can achieve its program objectives.
Long-range Step-out Holes
NGEx’s geological interpretation suggests that the currently intersected Lunahuasi mineralization represents the peripheral part of a larger porphyry/high-sulphidation epithermal system. The center of this system is believed to lie to the southwest, in an area yet to be drilled. Long-range step-out holes are specifically designed to test this area and confirm this concept, establishing the full potential of the deposit.
Mid-range Step-out Holes
To date, the Lunahuasi deposit has been drilled over an along-strike distance of over 400 meters, across a panel thickness of 900 meters, and over a dip length of almost 1,000 meters. It remains open in all directions, and these holes are designed to step out from existing intersections at the edges of the deposit to determine its full extent.
One of the most promising areas targeted in the upcoming program is the southern part of the deposit. Two successful step-out holes drilled at the end of the previous season intersected strong mineralization, extending the same structure that hosts the intersection in DPDH002. Hole DPDH022 intersected 39m at 10.84% CuEq (2.92% Cu, 10.04 g/t Au, 67.7 g/t Ag), and DPDH021 intersected 20m at 15.05% CuEq (9.18% Cu, 6.86 g/t Au, 98.5 g/t Ag), almost 300m and 400m south of DPDH002 respectively. Both holes intersected multiple high- to bonanza-grade structures over 1km of hole length.
Mid-range holes will systematically step out in all directions around these intersections to explore for extensions to these mineralized structures.
Short-range Infill Holes
Lunahuasi drilling has intersected numerous high- to bonanza-grade massive sulphide +/- massive silica structures with estimated true widths up to 100 meters. The large number of these features combined with relatively large spacing between drillholes results in ambiguities in correlations of intersections between holes.
Understanding the details of the geometry of these structures is crucial for an eventual resource estimate. Short-range holes will be drilled as 30 to 50m step-outs in all directions around one of the high-grade intersections in hole DPDH014 (71.9m at 9.63% CuEq (5.79% Cu, 4.70 g/t Au, 46.9 g/t Ag)) to confirm the orientation of this zone and the variability of the mineralization over these distances.
Lunahuasi and Los Helados Geophysical Surveys
Two geophysical surveys are planned for the upcoming season: a helicopter supported ZTEM (airborne electromagnetic) survey over the Los Helados claim block and a ground-based SPARTAN MT (magnetotelluric) survey over the Lunahuasi project area.
The ZTEM survey is expected to start before the end of September, and the MT survey during early October. SPARTAN MT is a frequency domain electromagnetic (EM) geophysical method that infers the Earth’s subsurface electrical properties from measurements of natural electric and magnetic variation at the Earth’s surface.
The survey results are expected to provide a better understanding of the size and extent of the Los Helados deposit, as well as identifying potential exploration targets with similar geophysical signatures.
ESG Initiatives
NGEx is committed to sustainable practices and has engaged the Lundin Foundation to progress its community relations activities, health and safety programs, environmental stewardship, and governance framework.
As part of its commitment to ESG practices, NGEx has submitted an application to join the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), a voluntary initiative that encourages businesses to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies.
