NGEx Minerals Ltd. NGEX ("NGEx Minerals" "NGEx" or the "Company") is pleased to report that drilling is underway at its Los Helados copper-gold project located in Region III, Chile. The drill program is expected to total up to 15,000 metres of diamond drilling and will focus on extending and further defining the Fenix and Alicanto high-grade zones, which were identified during the highly successful drill program completed in the first half of 2022. Drilling has started with two rigs, with another two expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Drilling with four rigs will continue into the first quarter of 2023. View PDF
Commenting on the start of the drill program, Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO, stated "Following the completion of our successful C$30 million financing, NGEx is well positioned for what promises to be a very exciting drill season. Driven by a successful reinterpretation of our exploration models we drilled some of the best holes ever at Los Helados earlier this year. The results opened up the potential for additional high-grade centres at the edge of the current deposit. This drill program will follow up on the success we had in the first half of the year.
In addition, in early 2023 we anticipate receiving the permits required to begin drilling the Potro Cliffs target which is located along the Filo del Sol - Los Helados structural trend and is the largest undrilled alteration zone in the Vicuña District."
Drilling at Los Helados will focus on testing for extensions of the high-grade mineralization intercepted earlier this year in the Fenix and Alicanto zones. These new zones are coincidental with resistivity lows that were highlighted in geophysical surveys.The Fenix and Alicanto zones are hosted in distinct phreatic and hydrothermal breccias associated with copper-gold porphyry intrusion phases which carry higher grade mineralization.
The planned drill program will utilize directional drilling to optimize drilling efficiency and to reduce the number of metres required to test the targets. Directional drilling uses specialized down hole tools to direct the drill bit toward target areas. A pilot hole is drilled first, which allows multiple different holes to be drilled from a single drill collar. The technique avoids redrilling the upper part of each hole and maximizes the metres used to test the target.
Highlights from the Fenix zone which is located on the western edge of the current drill pattern include 142.0 metres of 1.38% CuEq (1.14% Cu, 0.35 g/t Au, 3.8 g/t Ag) from LHDH076 which bottomed in mineralization grading 1.50% CuEq (1.02% Cu, 0.32 g/t Au, 49.0 g/t Ag) and includes the highest sliver grades intersected at Los Helados to date (see news release dated May 24, 2022 for details). The Fenix zone is open to the north, south, west, at depth and upward towards the surface.
Highlights from the Alicanto zone which is located at the northern edge of the current drill pattern include 340.8 metres of 0.73% CuEq (0.67% Cu; 0.09 g/t Au, 2.0 g/t Ag) including 100.0 metres of 1.20% CuEq (1.10% Cu, 0.14 g/t Au. 2.1 g/t Ag) from hole LHDH078 (see news release dated June 12, 2022 for details). The Alicanto zone is located approximately 550 metres to the north of the Condor zone which lies at the current center of the Los Helados resource. Alicanto is interpreted to be a separate porphyry centre.
Source: https://ngexminerals.com/