Mining News
Element 29 reports maiden resources at its Elida copper deposit in Peru
(Kitco News) - On Tuesday, Element 29 Resources (TSXV: ECU) announced the completion of an initial independent inferred mineral resource estimate at its Elida porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit in west-central Peru.
According to the company’s statement, the project’s pit-constrained, inferred mineral resource estimate amounted to 321.7 million tonnes grading 0.32% copper for a total of 2.24 billion pounds of contained copper, plus 0.029% molybdenum and 2.6 g/t silver, using a 0.20% copper cut-off grade and low modeled strip ratio of 0.74:1 (waste: mineralized material).
The company said that a near surface, higher-grade subset of the mineral resource consisting of 34.1 million inferred tonnes at 0.55% copper, 0.037% molybdenum, and 4.4 g/t silver (at a cut-off grade of 0.45% copper) has potential to be mined with minimal stripping in the initial years of mining.
Importantly, Element 29 noted that significant molybdenum and silver grades have the potential to enhance the economics of the deposit, subject to metallurgical test work.
The company also pointed out that this mineral resource was completed on just one of five porphyry centres at Elida and provides a solid foundation for future engineering studies as well enhancement and expansion through ongoing exploration.
President and CEO Steve Stakiw commented, "This major milestone for Element 29 demonstrates Elida is a large copper mineralized system along with significant molybdenum and silver that has the potential to enhance the economics of the deposit. Our evaluation of the Elida deposit's potential is still at an early stage and we see strong resource growth potential given this initial mineral resource estimate covers only a portion of our Zone 1 porphyry, one of five porphyry centres we have identified on the project for testing."
Element 29 Resources’ principal objective is to explore and develop its Elida porphyry copper deposit in west-central Peru and its Flor de Cobre porphyry copper project located in the Southern Peru Copper Belt, 26 km southeast from Freeport-McMoRan's Cerro Verde copper mine.
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