Lumina Copper moves higher on drill results

Shares of Lumina Copper (LCC-V) advanced 3.03% or 35¢ to close at $11.90 apiece yesterday following news of more drill results from its Taca Taca copper porphyry in Argentina. 

Highlights include infill hole 57, which returned 580 metres grading 0.88% copper, 0.18 gram gold per tonne and 0.02% molybdenum, or 1.10% copper equivalent. The hole included 78 metres grading 1.60% copper, 0.29 gram gold and 0.02% molybdenum, or 1.89% copper equivalent.  

Lumina used US$2.00 per lb. copper, US$800 per oz. gold and US$12 per lb. molybdenum in its calculation of the copper-equivalent grades.

Hole 52 was drilled as a 150-metre step-out along the northeastern boundary of the deposit and returned 590 metres grading 0.57% copper, 0.06 gram gold and 0.01% molybdenum, or 0.66% copper equivalent, including 104 metres grading 1.62% copper, 0.12 gram gold and 0.02% molydenum, or 1.81% copper equivalent. Hole 58, also drilled along the northeastern boundary of the resource cut 286 metres of 0.61% copper, 0.06 gram gold and 0.01% molybdenum, or 0.70% copper equivalent.

“Five of the eleven new holes have further defined mineralization to the north and east of the current National Instrument 43-101 resource and show the deposit remains open to the north and east,” Tom Meyer, a mining analyst at Scotia Capital wrote in a research note to clients. “These latest drill results also identified new areas of oxide gold in the leached cap, which in our view has room for further expansion.

Meyer reiterated his 1-Sector Outperform rating and his one-year price target of $18 per share, noting that he views the Taca Taca project “as one of the more exciting copper exploration projects out there.”

Hole 60, an infill hole drilled in the south-central area of the resource estimate intersected 132 metres grading 1.62% copper, 0.10 gram gold and 0.02% molybdenum, or 1.80% copper equivalent.

Lumina currently has six drill rigs on the site (five core and one RC) and are adding two more in early January. Drilling is focused on expanding the resource estimate to the north, northeast, northwest, east, south and southeast, as well as upgrading inferred resources to the indicated category.

An updated resource estimate in mid-November put Taca Taca’s indicated sulphide resources (at a 0.4% copper equivalent cut-off grade) at 516 million tonnes grading 0.58% copper, 0.12 gram gold and 0.018% molybdenum (0.76% copper equivalent) for 6.6 billion pounds  of copper, 2.1 million ounces of gold and 204.6 million pounds of molybdenum.

Inferred sulphide resources add 880 million tonnes grading 0.43% copper, 0.09 gram gold, and 0.015% molybdenum, or 0.57% copper equivalent, for 8.3 billion pounds of contained copper, 2.3 million ounces of gold and 292.9 million pounds of molybdenum. An oxide gold resource has also been identified within the leached cap that at a 0.2 gram gold cut-off contains inferred resources of 190 million tonnes grading 0.25 gram gold for 1.5 million ounces of gold.

Taca Taca is in northwestern Argentina’s Salta province, 90 km east of Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine.

At presstime Lumina was trading at $12.15 per share.