VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - January 10, 2025 (NEWMEDIAWIRE) - Pampa Metals Corp. ("Pampa Metals" or the "Company") (CSE:PM / FSE:FIR / OTCQB:PMMCF) is pleased to advise excellent progress is being made on its follow-up drill program at the emerging Piuquenes copper-gold porphyry project in San Juan Province, Argentina.
Piuquenes is a newly discovered, gold rich copper porphyry deposit located immediately adjacent to the north of Aldebaran Resources' giant Altar porphyry copper system. Other large porphyry copper projects in the San Juan Miocene porphyry belt include, El Pachn (Glencore), approximately 30 km to the south, the operating Los Pelambres copper mine (60% Antofagasta plc) in Chile, and Los Azules (McEwen Mining) 50 km to the northeast. Corporate and exploration activity along the belt remains high, with major companies including Rio Tinto, South 32, BHP and Teck also active.
Hole PIU-04 2025DDH (PIU-04) was collared from the eastern margin of Piuquenes Central, 250m northeast of PIU-01 2024DDH (422m @ 0.48% Cu, 0.61 g/t Au, including 132m @ 0.71% Cu, 0.85 g/t Au, refer 18 March 2024 News Release) and 135m northwest of historical shallow drill hole DDH-06 (refer 18 September 2024 News Release). PIU-04 was completed to a depth of 1,105.9m, the deepest hole at Piuquenes to date.
PIU-05 2025 DDH is also a significant step-out, collared 220m east of PIU16-01DDH (558m @ 0.38% Cu, 0.42 g/t Au, including 130m @ 0.81% Cu, 0.6 g/t Au, refer 5 December 2024 News Release) and 270m southwest of PIU02-2024DDH (448m @ 0.42% Cu, 0.46 g/t Au, including 126m @ 0.66% Cu, 0.74 g/t Au, refer 6 May 2024 News Release). Drilling continues at depths of ~900m, with partial logging completed to ~660m.
Samples are being progressively dispatched to the ALS lab in Mendoza and results are pending.
Key Highlights
- Hole PIU-04 2025DDH intersected variable intensity porphyry veining, alteration and copper mineralization over wide intervals and significantly expanded the footprint of the Piuquenes Central porphyry system to the northeast.
- Hole PIU-05 2025DDH has intersected several significant intervals of bornite-rich copper mineralization and extended the core of the Piuquenes Central porphyry system to depth.
Geology and Mineralization Diamond Drillhole PIU-05 2025DDH (to end of logging at 660m)
Drill hole PIU-05 2025DDH (PIU-05) drilled transported cover to 42 m and below that to 570 m variably altered, veined and brecciated pre-mineral diorite porphyry host rock. Brecciation is predominantly pre-mineral magmatic-intrusion breccia, however local zones of magmatic-hydrothermal breccia with biotite-magnetite cement occur. Below 570 m the hole intersected intervals of the quartz-bearing "causative" porphyry, similar to those intersected in the 2024 campaign.
The upper parts of the hole traverse phyllic and intermediate-argillic alteration which progressively give way to biotite-magnetite potassic alteration below approximately 250 m and then overprinting K-feldspar-bearing alteration from approximately 350 m.
Low intensity porphyry-style quartz-sulfide veining occurs from 250 progressively increasing to approximately 530 m where the intensity increases, and sulfide contents are higher until the end of the current logging. The quartz-sulfide veins are multi-phase with several generations of quartz A-veins observed including one phase of bornite-dominated A-veins. A later, sulfide dominated, quartz-poor chalcopyrite-rich vein phase is also observed. The higher sulfide zone encountered to-date is notable for its bornite content; although overall bornite remains less than chalcopyrite, the occurrence of a consistent bornite zone below 530 m (downhole) is encouraging and may signal that hole PIU-05 has encountered a zone of the system closer to a latent bornite-dominated core at depth.
Image 1. PIU-05 631.5m. Chalcopyrite-bornite veinlet exposed along a fracture.
Hole PIU-05 has extended the core of the Piuquenes Central porphyry system to depth and has intersected the most bornite-rich mineralization yet encountered.
Geology and Mineralization Diamond Drillhole PIU-04 2025DDH
Drill hole PIU-04 2025DDH intersected 32.4 m of cover and then to the end of the hole (1,105.9m) traversed pre-mineral diorite porphyry with minor intercalations ("Blocks") of andesitic volcanic rock. Quartz-bearing porphyry of the probable "causative" porphyry complex was encountered from 794-810m downhole. Within the pre-mineral diorite porphyry, long sections of intrusion breccia and lesser hydrothermal breccias occur. Significantly, within the hydrothermal breccia clasts of veined intrusion occur and potentially indicate the presence of "blind" system beneath the upper part of hole PIU-04.
The hole commenced in intermediate argillic alteration and transitioned, at approximately 290 m, to a biotite-magnetite dominated potassic alteration with lesser K-feldspar bearing potassic alteration. The hole transitioned out of potassic alteration back into intermediate argillic alteration from 950 m. Patchy potassic alteration is present down to 1030 m.
Weak porphyry-style quartz veinlets occur from 250 m to 390 m from where they increase, and porphyry style quartz A veins become consistent until 880 m from which point they decrease until disappearing at 970 m. Pyrite dominates the sulfide until 340 m, with 340 710 m showing a mix of pyrite and chalcopyrite whereas below 710 m chalcopyrite and minor bornite dominate over pyrite. Pyrite dominates from 910 m to the end of hole.
Hole PIU-04 has significantly expanded the footprint of the mineralized Piuquenes Central porphyry system to the northeast and the consistency of alteration and sulfide zoning will be invaluable in ongoing interpretation and modelling toward further targeting.
Joseph van den Elsen, Pampa Metals President and CEO commented: "We remain fully focused on driving significant shareholder value through the discovery and delineation of an economic deposit(s) on the Piuquenes property and are extremely pleased with progress to date. Intersecting wide intervals of strong bornite mineralization and significantly expanding the footprint of the Piuquenes Central porphyry system at this early stage of the program is very promising. Drilling will shortly commence testing a second compelling undrilled porphyry target which outcrops at Piuquenes East. Several other recently defined targets across the recently expanded land package are also being advanced through surface exploration".
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Joseph van den Elsen | President & CEO
Pampa Metals is a copper-gold exploration company listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE:PM), Frankfurt (FSE: FIR), and OTC (OTCQB: PMMCF) exchanges.
In November 2023, the Company announced it had entered into an Option and Joint Venture Agreement for the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Piuquenes Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in San Juan Province, Argentina.
QUALIFIED PERSON
Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mario Orrego G. Mr. Orrego G. is a Geologist, a Registered Member of the Chilean Mining Commission and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Orrego G. is a consultant to the Company.
Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Pampa Metals expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will" or "may" occur. These statements are subject to various risks. Although Pampa Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements.
