Great Southern Copper PLC (LSE:GSCU) has deployed a third drill rig to its Cerro Negro prospect in northern Chile as part of an expanded exploration campaign targeting copper, gold and silver mineralisation.
The new reverse circulation (RC) rig will begin scout drilling along the Mostaza Fault Zone, located about 1.5 kilometres south of the historic Mostaza mine.
And it will also test newly identified oxide copper mineralisation in the surrounding volcanic rocks. Recent rock chip samples from these areas have returned grades of up to 2.56% copper and 293 grams per tonne of silver.
Chief executive Sam Garrett said the move marks “an exciting step-up” in exploration, adding that the additional drilling capacity would allow the company to “rapidly test the multiple high-priority exploration targets” identified through geological and geophysical work.
The Phase III programme will comprise up to 2,000 metres of RC drilling designed to accelerate testing of several prospects and expand the known mineralised footprint at Cerro Negro.
Two diamond rigs are already operating at the site, focused on extending high-grade copper-silver zones previously discovered near the Mostaza mine.
Garrett said the new RC drilling would also probe shallow oxide copper zones that have not been previously tested. “These zones have the potential to significantly extend the scale of near-surface copper mineralisation in the Cerro Negro system,” he said.
The Cerro Negro prospect, part of Great Southern Copper’s Especularita Project, sits at low elevation with good access to infrastructure and mining services.
The company holds an option to acquire full ownership of the prospect, including the Mostaza mine area.
Garrett added that with copper and silver prices near multi-year highs, the expanded programme would “accelerate our ability to evaluate the broader-scale potential of the system and continue building on the excellent results achieved to date.”