Western Metallica Resources Corp. (TSX-V:WMS) told investors it continues to work toward identifying drill targets and securing permits to kick off a scout drilling program by the third quarter at its copper-molybdenum Caña Brava project in Peru.
The company said that geophysical and field mapping crews were currently deployed at the Luz Maria and Cana Brava 1 prospects to follow up on previous work related to strong magnetic anomalies coincident with large alteration footprints, which it noted is typical of Andean copper-molybdenum porphyry systems.
Previous exploration work indicated the potential for a large porphyry copper-molybdenum cluster under the sedimentary and colluvial cover, which Western Metallica said it is now working to confirm.
It expects to complete approximately 16 line-kilometers of pole-dipole Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical surveys in the near term to identify sulphide-rich mineralization and possible blind intrusions under the strongly altered Cretaceous sedimentary rocks and recent colluvium.
Meanwhile, the company is also acquiring systematic portable-XRF soil data, which is aimed at vectorizing the copper-molybdenum distribution at surface and pole-dipole IP geophysical data to identify sulphide-rich and/or resistivity anomalies. This could indicate the presence of mineralized bodies under the sedimentary and the recent colluvial covers, it said.
“The highly-prospective porphyry targets which coincide with copper-molybdenum anomalies at both Luz Maria and Caña Brava 1, defined across previous work and currently being further validated and potentially extended, allows the company to delineate key areas for the prospective drill program,” Western Metallica CEO Gregory Duras said.
“We are very excited with the evidence of these large, well-preserved porphyry systems located in such a new, accessible, and socially favorable sector of La Libertad.”
The CEO highlighted that it was unusual to find a virtually unexplored exposed porphyry anywhere in the world, but particularly so in Peru, where he noted some of the largest porphyry discoveries of the past 50 years have been made.
“We look forward to updating the market on the results of the first IP survey completed over the area, as well as the new sampling and mapping of this new target located in one of the world’s premier porphyry belts,” Duras said.
Toronto, Ontario-based Western Metallica is a mineral resource exploration and development company. It holds options to acquire a 100% interest in two copper projects in Peru; Caña Brava, in La Libertad Province, and Turmalina, in Piura Province.