Inca Pacific pushes Magistral to prefeasibility

Vancouver — Inca Pacific Resources (IP-V) intends to advance the Magistral copper porphyry-skarn project in Peru to the prefeasiblity stage, despite having received only mixed results from the final phase of this year’s drilling campaign.

The 49-hole, 4,000-metre program was managed by partner Anaconda Peru, a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based Antofagasta. The recent holes, 61 to 75, were all collared in the western part of the intrusive complex, which is said to represent the heart of the deposit.

Since 1999, Inca Pacific has drilled 75 holes on the property. At last report the inferred resource estimate, based on 27 diamond drill holes, stood at 190 million tonnes grading 0.83% copper and 0.06% molybdenum. The resource lies in a saddle-shaped body of mineralization that measures 1.2 km long by 125 metres wide and extends to a depth of at least 350 metres.

Holes 62, 65, 67, 69 and 72 were collared in the eastern part of the intrusive complex, which is only weakly altered and mineralized. Not surprisingly, they did not contain any significant intersections. Holes 73 and 74 also dudded, since they were drilled on the margins of the deposit.

Following this year’s program, Anaconda Peru will update the resource based on all 75 holes. In addition, engineering and metallurgical studies are endeavouring to bring the project to prefeasibility by year-end.

Anaconda’s objectives include: keeping capital costs under US$280 million; lowering the operating costs to less than US50 per lb. copper; and upgrading the geological resource (190 million tonnes grading 0.83% copper and 0.06% molybdenum).

Results from the last batch of drill holes are shown in the accompanying table.

HoleFrom-ToIntervalCopperMolybdenum