Marimaca Copper (TSX: MARI) announced Wednesday that drilling results from the remaining reverse circulation drill holes completed at the Cindy target have intersected significant copper mineralization, extending the strike length to over 800 metres.
Cindy is located less than 5km to the north of Marimaca’s oxide deposit in northern Chile, considered to be the only copper discovery globally in the last five years.
According to Marimaca, the Cindy target offers potential to add to the company’s leachable resource base and extend mine life or increase the scale of future operations.
The initial drill campaign at Cindy is designed to identify new, broad zones of shallow oxide mineralization that could complement the existing resources at the Marimaca oxide deposit, as well as potential deeper sulphide-bearing structures that could indicate a more extensive copper system, the company said.
So far, nine holes have been drilled to the north and south of the historical underground workings at Cindy, extending over roughly 1.2km of strike. The first three drill holes had already intersected broad zones of copper mineralization over a stepout strike of roughly 800m.
The latest results showed that broad zones of enriched and primary copper mineralization were intersected in two new holes, extending the strike of the previously identified mineralization.
Sergio Rivera, VP Exploration, said the two intersections “are deeper and accordingly have increased amounts of primary mineralization, but when considered in context of the east dipping structures, would indicate potential for oxide mineralization closer to surface, up dip on the structures to the west.”
The Marimaca exploration team has also extended its magnetic survey, which indicated a large anomaly directly to the north of Cindy.
“We are investigating the potential for extensions of the mineralized zone and structures into this area. If successful, this could meaningfully increase the strike length of Cindy,” Rivera said.
Meanwhile, assay results from Mercedes are pending. The company is also preparing infrastructure and drill pads for the Roble target, where drilling is expected to begin shortly.
Shares of Marimaca Copper fell 5.3% by 2:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. The copper company has a market capitalization of about C$331.3 million ($264m).