TIDMGSCU
RNS Number : 4266J
Great Southern Copper PLC
16 August 2023
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED
UNDER THE UK VERSION OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO 596/2014
WHICH IS PART OF ENGLISH LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN (WITHDRAWAL)
ACT 2018, AS AMED. ON PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A
REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO
BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
16 August 2023
Great Southern Copper plc
("GSC" or the "Company")
New "Suyay" Prospect Delivers High-Grade Gold-Copper in Rock
Chip Samples, San Lorenzo
Potential for porphyry and Intrusive-related Au-Cu-Mo type
mineral system
Great Southern Copper plc (LSE: GSCU), the company focused on
copper-gold exploration in Chile, is pleased to announce the
results of reconnaissance sampling at its newly-identified Suyay
prospect, located within the San Lorenzo project area.
Highlights:
-- Results up to 4.13g/t Au and 1.75% Cu for samples of
artisanal mine waste dumps and outcrop at Suyay
-- High-grade gold and copper associated with
structurally-controlled quartz-sulphide stockwork zones within
phyllic to advanced argillic (clay-silica-sericite) alteration
mapped over 2.5km(2)
-- Clay-silica-sericite alteration identified as a spectral
anomaly as part of a regional target selection survey
-- Results indicate potential for gold-rich porphyry or intrusive-related style mineralisation.
-- Prospect ideally located within the coastal metallogenic belt
with convenient access to road, power and port infrastructure
-- Further spectral anomalies within the San Lorenzo project
ready for reconnaissance exploration programmes
The Suyay prospect was recently acquired via auction(1) as a
block of eight concessions totalling 6.27sq km (626.5ha) and forms
part of the broader San Lorenzo project. A regional remote sensing
target-generation programme(2) identified the prospect as a
distinct spectral anomaly defined by an envelope of clay-iron oxide
alteration.
The Company recently received assay results from a
reconnaissance exploration survey of the Suyay prospect designed to
validate the spectral anomaly including mapping and sampling of
artisanal mines and outcrops in the district.
Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of Great Southern Copper,
said: "The high-grade gold-copper results from Suyay are highly
encouraging and validate the strategy of targeted exploration of
the spectral anomalies. The anomalous geochemistry combined with
our early understanding of the geology and controls on
mineralisation suggest that there is potential at Suyay for a
high-level gold-rich porphyry or intrusive-related system.
"More detailed follow-up exploration is now being planned for
Suyay which will include further prospect-scale mapping, rock and
soil sampling programmes. Geophysical surveys, such as magnetics
and induced polarisation, will also be considered subject to the
results of the next phase of exploration work. In addition, GSC
holds a pipeline of similar spectral anomalies under concession at
San Lorenzo which we will now start to validate with reconnaissance
exploration programmes."
Suyay gold-copper prospect:
The Suyay gold-copper prospect is defined by a central 2.5km(2)
envelope of phyllic to advanced argillic (clay-silica-sericite)
alteration cut by structurally-controlled swarms and lesser
stockworks of millimetric to centimetric quartz-sulphide veins and
sulphide stringers which have since been strongly leached forming
iron-oxide rich gossan zones (suggesting copper grades at surface
are strongly depleted). Multiple veinlet types are evident within
the stockwork zones, including vitreous and banded quartz similar
to A, B and BQ-type veins typically observed in porphyry and
intrusion related Cu-Au systems.
The central zone of phyllic to advanced argillic alteration
grades outwards into propylitic-altered andesitic volcanics.
Sampling and results:
All rock chip samples collected are located using hand-held GPS
units (WGS84 zone 19S datum, UTM coordinate system) and allocated a
unique sample number using a ticket-book system. Due to the
reconnaissance nature of the Suyay sampling programme and low
sample volume, standard reference materials (such as standards,
blanks, duplicates) were not inserted with the collected field
samples.
Samples are transported from the field and delivered by Company
employees to ALS Laboratories in Santiago where they are prepared
for analysis (weighed, dried, crushed and pulverised). A subsequent
200g split of each sample pulp is then forwarded to the ALS
geochemical laboratory in Lima, Peru, where samples are assayed for
gold (30g fire assay with ICP-AES finish, ALS code AU-ICP21) and
analysed for 48 major, base and trace elements by ICP-MS following
a four-acid digest (ALS code ME-MS61).
A total of 8 reconnaissance rock samples were collected from
waste dump material of artisanal mines and outcrops correlating to
the clay-silica-sericite alteration zone at Suyay. Gold anomalism
(>0.1g/t Au) is evident in results from 60% of samples with
grades ranging up to 4.13g/t Au. High-grade gold (>1.0g/t Au) is
reported in 50% of samples. Gold anomalism is broadly coincident
with anomalous Ag-As-Cu-Co-Mo-Sb, however, base metal grades are
considered to be depleted due to evidence of intense leaching and
oxidation of sulphides at Suyay (Figure 1). Anomalous copper
(>0.05% Cu) is evident in 50% of the reconnaissance samples with
assay grades ranging up to 1.75% Cu.
Next Steps:
The highly anomalous results of the reconnaissance exploration
at Suyay validate the strategy of utilising spectral anomalies as a
first-pass target-selection tool where copper-gold mineralisation
is potentially closely associated with clay-silica-sericite-iron
oxide alteration systems.
Follow-up prospect-scale exploration at Suyay is being planned
which will include further detailed mapping, stream sediment, rock
and soil sampling programmes. Geophysical surveys, such as
magnetics and induced polarisation ("IP"), will also be considered
subject to the results of the next phase of exploration ground
work.
Besides the Suyay and Chinchillon mineralised systems, the
spectral survey highlights a significant number of additional
landsat clay-sericite anomalies within the San Lorenzo project area
which are yet to be field-checked (Figure 2). Reconnaissance
ground-validation of these anomalies is also planned to commence
before the end of the year.
Figure 1: Gossanous quartz-sulphide veins (left). Historical
artisanal mine workings at Suyay targeting high-grade gold hosted
in discrete structurally-controlled veins and/or shear zones.
Figure 2: Landsat8 image of the San Lorenzo project area
highlighting clay-sericite alteration (yellow pixel domains). Gold
(g/t) and copper (ppm) assay results for the reconnaissance samples
at Suyay are included. The map also indicates the location of the
Chinchillon intrusive-related Cu-Au mineralisation associated with
a similar landsat anomaly and highlights the extent of additional
landsat anomalies within the San Lorenzo project area.
References:
1. RNS 3666Q (20 Feb 2023): Exploration update at Especularita and San Lorenzo.
2. GSCU Prospectus document (07 Dec 2021).
Enquiries:
Great Southern Copper plc
Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0) 20 4582 3500
---------------------
SI Capital Limited
---------------------
Nick Emerson +44 (0) 1483 413500
---------------------
Gracechurch Group
---------------------
Harry Chathli, Alexis Gore, Henry
Gamble +44 (0) 20 4582 3500
---------------------
Notes for Editors:
About Great Southern Copper
Great Southern Copper is a mineral exploration company focused
on copper-gold deposits in Chile. The Company has the option to
acquire rights to 100% of two projects that are prospective for
large scale copper-gold deposits in the underexplored coastal belt
of Chile, a globally significant mining jurisdiction and the
world's largest copper producer.
The two projects comprise the San Lorenzo Project, northeast of
the coastal town of La Serena in northern Chile, and the
Especularita Project located approximately 170km to the south of
the San Lorenzo project. The two early-stage Cu-Au exploration
projects are within the same coastal metallogenic belt as other
major deposits including Teck's Andacollo copper and gold mine.
Significant historical small-scale and artisanal workings for both
copper and gold are readily evident in both exploration project
areas.
Great Southern Copper is strategically positioned to support the
global market for copper, a key metal in the clean energy
transition around the world. The Company is actively engaged in
exploration and evaluation work programmes targeting both large
tonnage, low to medium grade Cu-Au deposits as well as high-grade
Cu-Au deposits.
Further information on the Company is available on the Company's
website: https://gscplc.com
Competent Person Statement
The information in this announcement that relates to exploration
results is based on and fairly represents information reviewed or
compiled by Mr Sam Garrett, a Competent Person who is a Member of
the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and a Fellow of the
Society of Economic Geologists. Mr Garrett is the CEO of Great
Southern Copper PLC. Mr Garrett has sufficient experience that is
relevant to the styles of mineralisation and types of deposit under
consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a
Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the
"Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr Garrett has provided his prior
written consent to the inclusion in this announcement of the
matters based on information in the form and context in which it
appears.
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