Solis Minerals Ltd has kicked off a maiden drill campaign at its Chancho al Palo copper-gold project in southern Peru, mobilising a diamond drill rig to test a suite of high-priority porphyry and iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) targets.
The 2,500-metre program is the company’s first crack at drilling Chancho al Palo and a crucial test of its broader ambitions to turn underexplored ground into copper-gold discoveries along Peru’s mineral-rich southern coast.
Drilling is set to begin within days, following detailed surface work that uncovered a series of compelling targets through mapping, sampling and geophysics.
Chancho al Palo drill targets over magnetic susceptibility plot. Targets include IP (1A and 1B) and magnetometry (M1 – M3) anomalies.
“We are excited to launch our maiden drill campaign at Chancho al Palo, a project with significant potential in one of the world’s premier copper-producing regions,” Solis CEO Mitch Thomas said.
“Our team has worked diligently to define high-priority targets, and we look forward to delivering the first-ever drill results from this highly prospective system in the coming weeks,” he added.
In good company
Chancho al Palo is in Peru’s famed southern coastal belt, near AusQuest’s Cangallo project and Southern Copper’s Tia Maria project.
Just 20 kilometres away at Ilo Este, Solis has received a green light from Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines to proceed with drilling. A 5,000-metre diamond drill program is planned for June, pending final approvals.
Meanwhile, exploration is progressing at Cinto, where an IP survey is nearing completion, with results expected next month. The project lies next to Southern Copper’s long-running Toquepala mine, which produced 225,000 tonnes of copper last year, and early signs suggest Cinto’s surface mineralisation could mirror the geology of its heavyweight neighbour.
Focus on Peru
The ramp-up in activity follows a successful $3.6 million capital raise in the March quarter, which set the company up to accelerate drilling across its Peruvian pipeline.
Solis now holds 69,200 hectares of ground across the three fully owned projects in a region viewed as fertile ground for large-scale copper discoveries.
“We are committed to maintaining a strong and consistent news flow across our high-quality copper-gold portfolio,” Thomas said.
With rigs turning at Chancho al Palo, approvals lined up at Ilo Este and results due soon from Cinto, Solis is entering a defining stretch in its South American exploration push.