Soaring demand for copper will help drive mergers, BHP CEO says
Demand for copper, a key element in the energy transition, is set to rise by 70% to 100% by 2050, Mike Henry said
Lumina Gold (TSXV: LUM) has drilled its longest continuous section of mineralization at its Gran Bestia copper-gold deposit in Ecuador, part of its Cangrejos copper-gold project.
The company cut 0.62 gram gold per tonne and 0.11% copper over 626 metres from surface including 1.14 grams gold and 0.13% copper over 86 metres from 224 metres downhole and 0.93 gram gold and 0.18% copper over 86 metres from 510 metres downhole.
The hole stepped out on the northern edge of the Gran Bestia anomaly and ended in mineralization, leaving the deposit open to the north.
Other recent drill highlights from the project include 0.35 gram gold and 0.06% copper over 148 metres from surface at Gran Bestia and 0.41 gram gold and 0.09% copper over 150 metres from surface at the Cangrejos deposit.
In early 2019, the company confirmed a deposit at Gran Bestia with its first three holes at the target. It found long intervals of gold mineralization, including 0.44 gram gold tonne and 0.12% copper over 262 metres from surface, and 0.41 gram gold with 0.1% copper over 26 metres from 274 metres downhole
Lumina believes Gran Bestia could significantly increase the scale of the current Cangrejos resource. The project currently contains 408 million inferred tonnes grading 0.65 gram gold, 0.11% copper, 0.6 gram silver and 25 parts per million molybdenum for 8.5 million oz. gold, 1.03 billion lb. copper, 7.8 million oz. silver and 22.5 million lb. molybdenum.
A preliminary economic assessment the company tabled in 2018 assigned the project a $920-million, after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate and a 15% after-tax internal rate of return.
(This article first appeared in The Northern Miner)
