EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT

Newcrest-backed explorer hits porphyry mineralisation at surface

TSXV-listed company reports 168.1m at 0.56gpt gold and 0.29% copper

Staff reporter
 Azucar reports another porphyry hit at its El Cobre project in Mexico

Azucar reports another porphyry hit at its El Cobre project in Mexico

It intersected a "hypogene porphyry zone" of 168.1m of 0.56gpt gold and 0.29% copper from 5m, including 12.1m at 2.04gpt gold and 0.58% copper, at the Raya Tembrillo target at the northern edge of the Villa Rica zone.

The company believes it could represent the hypogene source of previously reported supergene mineralisation, where an intersection of 94m at 1.36% copper was reported in December 2017.

"This is a very exciting development in our exploration program," chairman Duane Poliquin said.

Azucar is excited about El Cobre's potential, citing analogies to other projects hosting multiple porphyry discoveries across several kilometres of strike, including Newcrest Mining's Cadia Hill mine in Australia and Northern Dynasty Minerals' Pebble project in Alaska.

It now has five known copper-gold porphyry targets at El Cobre, namely Encinal, El Porvenir, Norte, Villa Rica and the recently-discovered Suegro zone.

The company formed in May 2018 as the rebadged Almadex Minerals, which spun out its early-stage exploration assets into a company of the same name.
 
Newcrest topped up its holding at C55.81c per share in October to maintain its 19.9% stake.

Azucar had about $16 million in cash at the end of September.

Its shares have slid from over $1.40 a year ago to 27.5c last month.

They rose almost 13% yesterday to close at 35c, capitalising it at $25.8 million.

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A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

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