JV Article: Element 29 Resources advances its pipeline of porphyry copper projects in Peru

Element 29 Resources (TSXV: ECU; US-OTC: EMTRF) is a Canadian explorer focused on advancing its 100%-owned Flor de Cobre and Elida copper properties in Peru.

The projects are located in one of the world’s premier copper-producing jurisdictions with the second-lowest costs for copper production globally and the lowest cost of exploration in South America.

Flor de Cobre and Elida “are two high-quality porphyry copper projects with significant growth potential in a top-tier mining jurisdiction,” says Steve Stakiw, Element 29’s president and CEO.

“Both are situated at low-to-moderate elevations below 2,700 metres and do not compete with other types of land use. They also benefit from proximity to existing infrastructure, with public roads within five kilometres of each property, and are close to national electricity transmission networks.”

In 2022, he says Element 29 will continue to evaluate low-cost, near-term copper production opportunities at Flor de Cobre and has “a clear value creation plan through the delivery of initial mineral resource estimates for both Elida and Flor de Cobre, followed by engineering studies for both properties.”

The 192.1-sq.-km Elida property in west-central Peru, approximately 85 km from the coastal city of Barranca, sits within the same region as Antamina, a large low-cost copper-zinc mine and one of the country’s largest copper producers. The mine started commercial production in 2001.

In December, the company completed a seven-hole (4,481.4 metres) drill program at Elida. The drilling focused on the Target 1 area (one of five porphyry centres on the project) and successfully intersected multiple, long intervals of very significant copper-molybdenum-silver mineralization down to more than 900 metres depth. The mineralization remains open at depth.

Highlights from the drilling included hole ELID025, which intersected 908.8 metres grading 0.49% copper, 0.035% molybdenum, and 2.9 grams silver per tonne (0.55% copper equivalent) starting from 38.5 metres downhole.

Paul Johnston, Elements 29’s vice-president of exploration, says the company “is using the drill results to prepare an initial mineral resource estimate for Elida and is conducting metallurgical test work for a planned preliminary economic assessment for the project.

“We are also planning a Phase 2 drill program to test the unexplored segments of the Target 1 mineralized zone and to undertake initial drilling of the Target 2 and 3 areas.”

The company’s 19.3-sq.-km Flor de Cobre property in the Southern Peru Copper belt, approximately 45 km south of Arequipa, hosts the Candelaria zone, a well-known copper project identified in the 1930s that is the site of a historical small-scale mining operation and the large and highly prospective Atravesado porphyry target. 

The project lies approximately 26 km southeast of Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE: FCX) Cerro Verde open-pit copper and molybdenum mining complex, which is one of Peru’s largest copper producers and a top 10 global producer, producing 887 million lb. of copper in 2021, and 5 km northwest of the Chapi copper mine, owned by Nexa Resources (NYSE: NEXA).

Element 29 recently completed a 12-hole (4,500 metres) drill program on Candelaria. The drilling was designed to confirm a historical resource estimate (predating NI 41-101 standards) of 57.4 million tonnes grading 0.67% copper associated with a supergene enrichment blanket and test for primary copper sulphide mineralization beneath the enrichment zone to depths of over 500 metres.

Highlights included hole FDC001, which intersected 349 metres grading 0.77% copper, 0.006% molybdenum, and 1.7 grams silver per tonne (0.81% copper-equivalent) starting from 78 metres downhole, and comprised 123 metres of 1.42% copper in the enriched sulphide zone followed by 226 metres of 0.42% copper in the primary sulphide zone below.

Stakiw says the “assays returned from drilling to date are very similar to historical drill results from Candelaria and we are now receiving the remaining drill results from this program.

“Once all the analytical data is received and processed, we will assess and verify historical drill data, which we will then incorporate into a mineral resource estimate of the Candelaria enrichment zone. We plan to release an updated resource estimate later this year.”

Meanwhile, at Atravesado, approximately 1.5 km northwest of Candelaria, the company is advancing permitting for an initial drill program to test the area, which he says is expected to start in 2023. “Atravesado is a large 1.5-km by 1.6-km target characterized by outcropping copper oxide mineralization, quartz vein stockworks, potassic alteration, and late-mineral porphyry dykes.”

According to Johnston, Element 29’s three projects — Elida, Candelaria, and Atravesado — provide “considerable resource development options, with nearer-term development potential at Candelaria, significant resource delineation potential at Elida, and the potential for discovery of a large-scale porphyry copper system at Atravesado.”

The company had approximately $5.5 million at the end of the first quarter of 2022 in the treasury, which says Stakiw “is sufficient to fund our planned near-term work programs on the two properties.”

The preceding Joint-Venture Article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by ELEMENT 29 RESOURCES and produced in cooperation with The Northern Miner. Visit www.e29copper.com for more information.