Atalaya Mining announced the results of five additional drill holes from its ongoing resource definition drilling programme at Proyecto Masa Valverde (“PMVâ€).
PMV is located in southern Spain approximately 28 km to the south of Atalaya’s 15Mtpa mill at Proyecto Riotinto.
New drill results include best continuous copper intercept at PMV to date: 125 metres at 1.19% Cu, including high grade intervals of 12m at 2.29% Cu, 19m at 2.56% Cu and 15m at 2.27% Cu.
Results are expected to increase the copper grade in the upcoming NI 43-101 resource estimate for PMV, which is planned for release by the end of March 2022.
Higher grade material from PMV has the potential to displace ore from the Cerro Colorado pit, allowing the Company to increase its copper production while maintaining current processing rates.
Intersected mineralisation is mostly stockwork-type with minor massive sulphides, which is expected to have positive metallurgical implications.
Three rigs continue to drill at PMV, as part of the Company’s €10 million exploration programme for 2022.
The objective of the ongoing drilling programme at PMV is to confirm, improve and expand the historical NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource of 66Mt at 0.67% Cu, 1.92% Zn, 0.90% Pb, 0.63 g/t Au and 34 g/t Ag.
In addition to the Masa Valverde deposit, PMV also includes Majadales, which was discovered in 2019 and was not included in any previous resource estimates, as well as several geophysical and geochemical drill-ready targets.
The five holes included in this release are infill holes drilled within the existing historical resource estimate of the Masa Valverde deposit. Each of these holes encountered broad intervals of massive, semi-massive and stockwork-type sulphide mineralisation at anticipated target depths.
More importantly, two of them (MJ-43 and MJ-45) returned the deposit’s best continuous copper intercepts to date in terms of grade / thickness factor: 125 metres at 1.19% Cu (or 1.56% CuEq) and 179 metres at 0.87% Cu (or 1.72% CuEq) respectively. Atalaya expects these intercepts will contribute to an increase in the average copper grade of the upcoming NI 43-101 resource estimate, which is planned for release by the end of March 2022.
Sourcing higher grade material from within the Riotinto District is central to Atalaya’s strategy to grow its copper production. Ore from deposits such as PMV has the potential to displace feed from the Cerro Colorado pit, allowing the Company to increase production while maintaining its current processing rates.
Other highlights include the high gold grades encountered in many of the intercepts, including 25 metres at 2.09 g/t Au in hole MJ-42 and 43 metres at 1.42 g/t Au in hole MJ-44. ■