Freehill Mining Limited (ASX:FHS) has started a three-hole 1,500-metre diamond drill program at its 100%-owned El Dorado Project in Chile.
The rig is drilling the first of three targets at El Dorado, a 750-hectare tenement that is highly prospective for copper and gold and that directly adjoins Freehill’s 67 million tonnes Yerbas Buenas magnetite project.
Drilling at El Dorado follows the completion of encouraging geophysical work during 2020 and is designed to test a high intensity induced polarisation (IP) anomaly and other targets.
Expanding exploration activities
Freehill chief executive officer Paul Davies said: “The drill program at El Dorado is the next logical step in expanding Freehill's exploration activities on this highly prospective target.
“Our technical team has done an enormous amount of work to determine the three locations of the drill holes and it is pleasing drilling is underway.
“El Dorado is prospective for two commodities that have excellent fundamentals and where the pricing outlook is favourable, copper and gold.
“We look forward to sharing updates as the drill program unfolds.”
Drilling program
The first drill hole has been designed to test the high-intensity IP chargeability anomaly identified during exploration in late 2020.
The remaining two drill holes are proposed to test a number of targets outlined during a mapping and geophysical survey undertaken in December 2019.
Drilling is expected to take five weeks and the core samples from all holes will be submitted to ALS Global facility in Peru for analysis.