Great Southern Copper Launches First Reverse Circulation Drill Program at Especularita Project

Great Southern Copper has completed its initial scout reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign at the Especularita project in Chile, aimed at evaluating large‑scale porphyry copper systems.

Located at low elevation, the project enjoys close proximity to existing infrastructure and mining services.

Situated within a prolific copper corridor in Chile that hosts major deposits such as Los Pelambres, Altar and El Pachon.

The company holds an option to acquire 100 % ownership of the project.

The program drilled 17 reverse‑circulation holes totaling 2,474 m across the project area.

Drilling focused on prospects along the western and southern margins of the La Colorada advanced argillic lithocap.

The company selected these zones based on geological attributes indicating potential surface exposure of porphyry‑style alteration surrounding the lithocap.

Initial drilling at the Piedras Blancas and Artemisa North targets intersected diorite and microdiorite intrusions exhibiting strong magnetite‑biotite‑pyrite alteration overprinted by intense chlorite‑sericite alteration.

Notably, drill‑holes RC001 at Piedras Blancas and RC008 at Artemisa North intersected near‑surface porphyry‑copper‑style potassic alteration, characterized by hydrothermal biotite and quartz veinlets.

At the Victoria and Artemisa South targets, drilling revealed milder phyllic‑style alteration, with mineralisation appearing more structurally controlled.

Overall vein intensity and copper‑oxide occurrences increase toward the north, indicating a probable source of mineralising fluids beneath the La Colorada lithocap.

Sample collection adhered to a 2 m interval protocol and incorporated established quality assurance and quality control procedures.

All samples have been shipped to ALS Laboratories in Santiago and La Serena for preparation, with subsequent assays scheduled for analysis in Lima, Peru.

Great Southern Copper anticipates receiving the first assay results within two to four weeks.

Ongoing mapping and geophysical surveys are planned to guide additional exploration at other prospects within the licence area.

Great Southern Copper CEO Sam Garrett said: “We are pleased to have completed our initial drilling test along the margins of the extensive lithocap alteration system at Especularita.”

This programme is important as it will enable us to direct future drilling within the lithocap toward zones with the greatest potential for copper and gold mineralisation.

Last month, the company commenced scout reverse‑circulation drilling at the Artemisa South copper‑gold target, a component of the Especularita project.

Source link