SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Culpeo Minerals Limited (ASX: CPO) has entered into an agreement to acquire the Lana Corina Copper Project from SCM Antares.
Lana Corina is a high-grade copper project, hosting multiple outcropping copper bearing breccia pipes associated with a well mineralised porphyry intrusive. The Project is located 40km north of the Company’s Quelon Project in the coastal Coquimbo region of Chile.
Culpeo Minerals’ Managing Director, Max Tuesley, commented: “Lana Corina is an exciting opportunity for Culpeo to rapidly delineate and define a high-grade copper resource in the Coastal Cordillera of Chile. Lana Corina offers a de-risked copper exploration project at low altitude, with excellent access to infrastructure. The Project is drill ready and we look forward to commencing drilling in the coming days.”
The Lana Corina deposit was discovered in the 1940’s but it was not until the 1970’s that any detailed work was undertaken, including geological mapping and shallow drilling. During this time a local company, Compania Minera Santa Rita installed several underground shafts and extracted copper ore from the high-grade breccia deposits.
Following this initial mining and up until 1985, the deposit was exploited by the Compania Minera Centinela, who processed ore at the nearby government owned El Parral plant (ENAMI), located 5km north of Combarbala. Mining focused on the breccia pipes and was undertaken using underground techniques with the maximum depth of the development reaching 160m below surface.
During this time the deeper potential of the system was recognised from both underground sampling and drilling with significant copper results being returned from this work.