Vancouver-based Lumina Copper Corporation saw its shares rally after announcing a significant increase in the known sulphide copper, gold and molybdenum resources at its Taca Taca project in Salta province Argentina.
At a 0.3% copper equivalent cut-off, total contained sulphide copper in the indicated resource category is estimated to be 21.1 billion pounds of copper while total contained sulphide copper in the inferred resource category is estimated to be 7.6 billion pounds of copper.
The total 2.17 billion tonnes in the indicated sulphide resource category compares with 995 million tonnes in the previous estimate announced in May of this year.
The company said that the base case cut-off grade for the sulphide mineral resource estimate was decreased from 0.4% copper equivalent in the previous estimate in May to 0.3%, to align the latest report with the net smelter return cut off that will be used for the mine plan which will be included in the upcoming preliminary economic assessment.
There has been no change to the cutoff grade for the oxide gold resource estimate however, of 0.2 gram per tonne gold. The updated mineral resource estimate shows that the sulphide mineral resource remains open to depth in some areas and along the southern boundary of the deposit's northeastern limb. The boundaries of the oxide gold resource appear to be fully defined.
In terms of oxide resources, the indicated category holds 2.1 million ounces of gold and the inferred category holds 0.1 million ounces of gold. The company has now completed its planned drilling program on the Taca Taca deposit and is undertaking the various engineering studies required to complete the PEA which is expected to wrap up by March of next year.
The updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate was based on a total of 147,449 meters of drilling in 310 holes including previous drilling completed by BHP Billiton among other prior operators.
The Taca Taca copper, gold and molybdenum project is located in the Puna region of north western Argentina in Salta province, around 230 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Salta and 120 kilometers east of the world's largest copper mine Escondida.
