REG - Great Southrn.Copper - Suyay Prospect Delivers High-Grade Samples

Great Southern CopperAnnouncement

16/08/2023 07:00

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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 AMENDED.  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 (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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