Location
Region III, Chile
Ownership
~69% NGEx
~31% Nippon Caserones Resources
Deposit Type
Copper-Gold Porphyry
Mineralization
Copper-Gold-Silver
Summary
Los Helados is one of the largest grassroots copper-gold discoveries made in the last decade and is one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold resources in the world. The deposit is located approximately 17 kilometres from the operating Caserones mine, where NGEx Minerals’ 31% partner at Los Helados also holds a minority interest. In addition, Los Helados is approximately 10 kilometres from Lundin Mining’s Josemaria project which is under development in San Juan Province, Argentina. Metallurgical test work indicates that Los Helados would produce a high-quality precious metal-rich copper concentrate. The combination of a large, high-quality resource in proximity to mining infrastructure owned by our joint-venture partner positions Los Helados as one of the best advanced-stage copper development opportunities globally.
Ownership
NGEx currently holds an approximate 69% interest in Los Helados subject to a Joint Exploration Agreement with Nippon Caserones Resources which holds the remaining approximate 31%. NGEx is the operator of the Los Helados project.
Location
Los Helados is located in the Andes Mountains of Region III (Atacama Region), Chile, approximately 10 kilometres north of NGEx’s Lunahuasi project located in the San Juan Province, Argentina.
Access to both Lunahuasi and Los Helados is via Copiapó, Chile (a driving distance of about 177 kilometres), or from San Juan, Argentina (a driving distance of approximately 264 kilometres).
Mineral Resources
The most recent Mineral Resource estimate for the Los Helados project, effective as of October 31, 2023, at a cut-off grade of 0.33% CuEq is comprised of 2.1 billion tonnes at 0.40% copper, 0.15 g/t gold and 1.5 g/t silver, containing 18.4 billion pounds of copper, 10.2 million ounces of gold and 97.5 million ounces of silver in the Indicated category, and an Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 1.1 billion tonnes at 0.34% copper, 0.10 g/t gold and 1.4 g/t silver for 8.2 billion pounds of copper, 3.6 million ounces of gold and 50.2 million ounces of silver. The deposit contains a higher grade core at a cut-off grade of 0.60% CuEq of 510 million tonnes at 0.72% CuEq (0.56% copper, 0.21 g/t gold, 1.8 g/t silver).
Geology
Los Helados is a copper-gold porphyry deposit. Mineralization at Los Helados is primarily hosted by a Miocene magmatic–hydrothermal breccia that forms a roughly circular, pipe-like body with minimum dimensions of 1,100m east–west, 1,200m north–south, and at least 1,500m vertically. The breccia body is surrounded by a broad halo of moderate to low grade copper-gold mineralization which diminishes in grade with increasing distance from the breccia contact.
Updated Geological Models
Updated Block Model
Metallurgical Testwork
A two-phase metallurgical test work program for Los Helados was conducted at SGS Minerals S.A. (SGS) laboratories in Santiago, Chile, under the supervision of Amec Foster Wheeler. Material from Los Helados was also tested for amenability to processing by High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR) by Thyssenkrupp.
The testwork completed to date indicates Cu recovery ranges from 84.2% to 93.9%, gold recovery averages 76% and silver recovery averages 60%.
No deleterious elements were noted in the concentrates produced from the testwork completed on Los Helados mineralization and they are expected to be marketable to copper smelters around the world.
Exploration Potential
The two most recent years of exploration at Los Helados have discovered two new high-grade zones within the main breccia unit. These zones need further drilling to define their limits and both are open to depth with existing drilling ending in high-grade mineralization. Similarly, the high-grade central Condor Zone remains open to depth. With the existing drilling to date at Los Helados, there are still domains along the margin of the breccia that have not seen a high drill density and there remains ample room for further high-grade discoveries.
