- Western Metallica Resources (TSXV:WMS) announced initial results from its ongoing drill program at the Luz Maria copper-molybdenum target, part of its 100 per cent-owned Caña Brava Project in Northern Peru
- Three diamond drill holes have been completed at the Luz Maria prospect, all directed from the center of the surface geochemical anomaly to the center of the main chargeability anomaly
- Western Metallica holds the option to acquire 100 per cent of the mineral claims, rights, and interests in Caña Brava, a Cu-Mo project located in Northern Peru
- Western Metallica Resources stock (TSXV:WMS) opened trading at $0.025
Western Metallica Resources (TSXV:WMS) announced initial results from its ongoing drill program at the Luz Maria copper-molybdenum target, part of its 100 per cent-owned Caña Brava Project in Northern Peru.
The first two completed drill holes have intersected at least two diorite intrusions and a polymictic hydrothermal breccia, displaying consistent strong potassic alteration, multiple vein systems, and sulfide mineralization typical of Andean porphyry systems. These results confirm homogeneous copper and molybdenum grades throughout the drill holes. A third drill hole intercepted 285 metres of quartz-monzonite, showing increasing alteration and mineralization intensity at depth. While most assays are still pending, company geologists believe the intensity and extent of the alteration and mineralization system at Luz Maria indicate a major Cu-Mo porphyry system.
Drilling highlights
- Three diamond drill holes have been completed at the Luz Maria prospect, all directed from the center of the surface geochemical anomaly to the center of the main chargeability anomaly. All drill holes intersected broad intervals of strongly altered intrusive rocks, with well-developed potassic, phyllic, and sodic alteration assemblages typical of Andean porphyry systems.
- The ongoing drill program aims to test the copper-molybdenum mineralization over an area of 500 metres by 300 metres, representing less than 5 per cent of the Luz Maria alteration footprint area defined so far. The focus is on a sector featuring strongly altered diorite and quartz-monzonite outcrops coincident with strong magnetic and chargeability anomalies identified by drone magnetic and Induced Polarization surveys completed in 2024.
- Drill hole LM24DD001, completed by contractor Energold to a depth of 396.1 metres, intersected 275 metres of altered and mineralized diorite host rock with continuous and homogeneous grades averaging 400 ppm Cu and 100 ppm Mo.
- Strong, pervasive secondary biotite is observed throughout drill hole LM24DD001, often overprinted by a phyllic alteration assemblage of quartz and sericite. Mineralization occurs as chalcopyrite and molybdenite both as disseminations and in a stockwork of Early Biotite and B veins.
- Drill hole LM24DD002 was completed to a depth of 329.7 metres, with increasing alteration intensity and veining. Results have been received for approximately 50 per cent of the samples obtained from this hole. The best result so far is 1.8 metres at 0.2 per cent Cu, from 146.7-148.50 metres, within a zone featuring high-density pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite veining.
- Drill hole LM24DD003, the easternmost hole drilled to date, was terminated earlier than planned at a depth of 330.45 metres due to operational issues. It intercepted a strongly altered quartz-monzonite intrusion, which outcrops nearby and is considered a host rock of the porphyry system. The intensity of the potassic alteration increases with depth and is overprinted by sericite. The density of pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-molybdenite veining also increases at depth, suggesting an eastern vector to mineralization.
- Drilling has confirmed the presence of a complex Cu-Mo porphyry system, with multiple intrusion phases and multiple alteration and mineralization events observed in both the intrusive and siliciclastic sedimentary rocks.
Background
Western Metallica holds the option to acquire 100 per cent of the mineral claims, rights, and interests in Caña Brava, a Cu-Mo project located in Northern Peru. The project lies within the under-explored Northern sector of the Cu-Mo metallogenic belt of Eocene age, which hosts world-class deposits such as Las Bambas, Cotabambas, Constancia, Antapacay, and discoveries like Elida. The Caña Brava Project is well-located near industrial ports and major paved roads and comprises large, contiguous mineral concessions conducive to future project scalability.
The Caña Brava Project is a highly prospective 57 square km package of concessions located 30 kilometres from the Peruvian coast, at an elevation of 1,500 metres in the Western Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes. It neighbors Hudbay’s Llaguen Cu-Mo Project, with the potential for Caña Brava to similarly host shallow high-grade mineralization across a considerable alteration footprint. Western Metallica recently launched its first drill program at the Luz Maria copper-molybdenum porphyry prospect after receiving its permit to drill from 19 platforms. Luz Maria is a well-preserved porphyry system and priority drill target at the Caña Brava Project, where exploration work has defined a cluster of multi-stage mineralized intrusions within a large alteration footprint, comparable in size to other major Peruvian porphyry deposits. The company is also advancing drilling permitting on its Caña Brava 1 prospect, characterized by a distinctive leached zone with goethite and hematite box works. Environmental and social baselines required to support the FTA process have been completed for this sector. At Caña Brava 1, diamond-sawn channel sampling confirmed grades up to 0.3 per cent Cu from seven different intrusives recognized to date.
Leadership commentary
“Our technical team has designed a six-hole maiden scout drill program at Luz Maria to test the potential size and grade of the porphyry system. The initial three shallow holes validated our exploration approach and assumptions by confirming that the magnetic and chargeability anomalies are related to a reduced copper-molybdenum bearing porphyry system, the source of which we are yet to find,” Western Metallica’s vice president of exploration, Giovanni Funaioli, commented in a news release. “So far, we have only tested 300 metres of a 2.5 km-major axis of the E-W trending alteration and mineralization surface footprint, and the increase in alteration intensity and veining density to the east suggests that we are getting closer to the core of the system.”
About the company
Western Metallica Resources Corp. is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Spain. The company’s projects include Penedela, Valledor, Sierra Alta, and Nueva Celti.
Western Metallica Resources stock (TSXV:WMS) opened trading 25 per cent higher at $0.025.
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