C3 Metals Inc (CVE:CCCM), formerly Carube Copper, has started drilling at its flagship Jasperoide copper-gold project in southern Peru.
This first phase program comprises 15 holes for 3,500 metres (m) and will test a "large-scale, copper-gold skarn-porphyry system" developed over more than 3km strike.
READ: Carube Copper rebrands as C3 Metals, putting focus on flagship Jasperoide copper-gold project in Peru
It will also test an epithermal gold target at the Callejón de Oro zone where previous trenching and channel sampling returned high grades of 11 metres (m) at 19.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
"Having just completed a successful capital raising, C3 is now proceeding with drilling at Jasperoide, a great milestone for the company," said Kevin Tomlinson, the CEO at the exploration firm.
"We are excited to be evaluating this underexplored skarn-porphyry system and associated epithermal veins. The initial Phase 1 campaign will allow us to gain a better understanding of the skarn mineralization before embarking on the larger Phase 2 campaign."
Jasperoide is a poorly-explored 5,700-hectare (Ha) high-grade copper-gold skarn and porphyry system located in the prolific Andahuaylas-Yauri Porphyry skarn belt of southern Peru.
Three priority areas have been defined to date. These are the Montaña de Cobre Zone covering 1.5 by 1.0 km, which was partially tested 10 years ago and will be drilled to expand and evaluate the continuity of near surface skarn hosted copper-gold mineralization.
Drilling will also test the Cresta Verde prospect, 600m northwest of Montaña de Cobre, comprising a north-south trending zone of garnet-diopside and magnetite skarn with significant copper mineralization.
At the Callejón de Oro prospect, which lies around 500m southwest of Montaña de Cobre, Phase 1 drilling will also test epithermal style gold mineralization.
Mineralization at Jasperoide is hosted in a similar geological setting to the nearby major mining operations at Las Bambas (MMG), Constancia (Hudbay) and Antapaccay (Glencore).
C3 Metals also holds a 100% interest in five licenses covering 207 sq km of highly prospective copper-gold terrain in Jamaica,
It also has a 100% interest in two porphyry copper-gold properties, with one under option to Tocvan Ventures, covering 304 sq km within the Cascade Magmatic Arc in British Columbia and the 46 sq km Stewart Brook gold project in the Meguma gold belt of Nova Scotia.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com