Marimaca stock up on new drill results at copper project in Antofagasta region

Marimaca Copper’s (TSX: MARI) stock rose on Monday after the company announced the completion and results of drilling at its flagship copper project located in the Antofagasta region of Chile.

The program was designed to test and confirm the planned site layout to be incorporated into the ongoing permitting and definitive feasibility study (DFS) workstreams, the company said.

Key drilling highlights include the results from drill hole SLR-08, located south of the planned plant facilities in the San Lorenzo district. This particular drill hole intersected 30 metres at 0.99% total copper from a depth of 62 metres within a broader zone of 68 metres at 0.51% total copper from the same depth.

The oxide project’s DFS remains on schedule for late 2024 completion with permit submissions targeting the middle of 2024, Marimaca said.

“The discovery of a new mineralized trend identified in the San Lorenzo area will be evaluated further to determine next steps, but it appears the core zone extends to the south away from the project’s infrastructure and offers an interesting target for shallow oxide mineralization,” CEO Hayden Locke said in a news release.

“Further afield, we have completed a review of our broader exploration package and have identified several areas with exciting potential. We are finalizing 2024 exploration plans particularly for the Sierra de Medina project and will update as new developments occur.”

Since its discovery in 2016, Marimaca has more than doubled the deposit’s resource, most recently estimated at 200 million tonnes grading 0.45% copper for 900,000 tonnes of metal in the measured and indicated category. It also contains an inferred resource of 37 million tonnes grading 0.38% copper for 141,000 tonnes.

During the first six years of mining, the open-pit, heap-leach project is expected to deliver 40,000 tonnes of copper cathodes annually. Total recovered copper over the entire 12-year mine life is approximately 430,000 tonnes.

Shares of Marimaca Copper rose 6.3% by 12:15 p.m. EDT Monday in Toronto, for a market capitalization of approximately C$280 million ($208m).