Great Southern Copper secures major mining concessions in Chile
LONDON: Great Southern Copper plc (GSCU) has announced the successful signing of a Purchase Option Agreement for the Artemisa concession group in northern Chile. This move comes after a comprehensive 90-day due diligence period and is set to bolster the company’s Especularita project area with an additional 1,665 hectares of highly prospective land.
The new concessions, which include five distinct prospect areas, offer GSCU the exclusive right to earn 100% of the mining rights, subject to annual option and concession fees. The areas are considered highly promising for the discovery of porphyry copper-gold (Cu-Au), intrusion-related gold systems (IRGS), and iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) type deposits.
Notably, the acquisition expands GSCU’s Victoria IRGS prospect by 2 kilometers to the west and 1.5 kilometers south, featuring high-grade Cu-Au rock chip samples with concentrations up to 3.5% copper and 0.5 grams per tonne gold. Additionally, the Lipa lithocap-porphyry Cu-Au target extends 2 kilometers to the west, with artisanal mining activities highlighting hydrothermal breccia grades up to 0.6% copper.
Two new breccia-porphyry Cu-Au targets at Breccia Amarilla and Viuda have been added, along with high-grade skarn-IOCG style Cu-Au mineralization sampled from the historical Rulos mine prospect, which may represent the northern extension of GSC’s Aurelia prospect.
GSCU has initiated permitting work for phase 1 exploration drilling at Lipa, Victoria, Aurelia, Viuda, and Breccia Amarilla, aiming to commence drilling as soon as possible, pending permit approvals. Furthermore, the completion of the Cerro Negro Purchase Option Agreement is anticipated to be finalized shortly.
Earlier this year, GSCU had announced the signing of a binding Letter of Intent for the 100% acquisition of the Artemisa group of concessions. Following the due diligence period, which included confirmatory rock chip sampling, the company has now cemented the acquisition with the signing of the Purchase Option Agreement. This agreement grants GSC the option to acquire all mining rights to the 1,665 hectares of granted exploration and mining concessions, encompassing the five prospect areas within the Especularita project.
In addition, GSCU has extended its due diligence period for the Cerro Negro prospect acquisition due to the extensive geological fact-checking required, underscoring the company’s commitment to thorough exploration and development.
Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of Great Southern Copper, said: “We are excited to finalise our purchase of the Artemisa group of concessions and look forward to commencing exploration activity immediately. Preparations for drilling approvals are already underway for scout RC and diamond drilling programmes to commence as soon as permitting allows. We look forward to updating the market on progress at these exciting prospects.”
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