Los Andes Copper Ltd (TSX-V:LA) said it continues to progress its pre-feasibility study (PFS) at its Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum porphyry project in Chile, with the PFS on track to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
The company said the PFS is advancing, with a team of internal technician experts and independent engineers at Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) working towards optimized operational mine plans.
Successful drilling completed in 2022 has been incorporated into the resource model and opportunities to increase the potential project mining rate are being assessed, the company said.
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Los Andes said the restrictions on production rates in the current preliminary economic assessment (PEA) were the subject of current engineering focus, noting that the PEA has a 45-year life of mine so accelerating production would be a benefit to the project.
"The detailed engineering for the PFS is designed to take advantage of the successful drilling we have completed and the modern technology that allows for a reduced environmental footprint to bring out copper which the world will need in the years ahead,” said Los Andes CEO R Michael Jones.
He added that drilling at the project was planned to resume within 4Q, 2022, with the objective of expanding its resources beyond those currently considered in the PFS.
“Large scale intercepts from 860 to 1,000 meters of mineralization announced previously in 2022 are not closed off in the deposit model,” he said.
Los Andes Copper is a Canadian development company focused on bringing the Vizcachitas project located along Chile's most prolific copper belt into production.
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