Developing a Highly Prospective Copper Asset Play
Western Metallica Resources Corp. (“WMS”, or the “Company”) is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with five mineral assets across Peru and Spain, listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange under ticker symbol WMS.
WMS is developing a sizeable copper resource through an impressive package of assets, including a highly prospective exploration asset in La Libertad, Peru, and one past producing copper project located in Andalusia, Spain.
Drilling has commenced at the Luz Maria copper porphyry prospect, located within the Company's Peruvian Caña Brava Project, having now progressed with 200 metres of the 350 metres planned for the 1st of a total of 6 drill holes outlined for the current program for an anticipated 2,100 metres of drilling. The intention is to test combined high magnetic and chargeability anomalies as well as Cu and Mo geochemical anomalies obtained from the regolith sampling programs. Previous rock sampling at Luz Maria confirmed consistent anomalous grades up to 0.07% Cu and 0.06% Mo from multi-phase intrusions, with Cu regolith anomalies open to West.
The Caña Brava Project has yet to be systematically explored, with a potential 10 kilometres worth of structural corridors enhanced by WNW-ESE-trending fold axes and faults, positioned in the northern sector of the Eocene-Oligocene Belt, similar to the Element 29 Resources Elida porphyry system. The potential for identification of analogous size, grade and mineralization to some key Andean systems is promising, an integral component of the Company’s shareholder value objective to develop a sizeable resource and deliver a substantial discovery.
With the Caña Brava Project’s similarities to neighbouring large emerging copper discoveries such as Hudbay’s Llaguen Cu-Mo deposit (refer to Hudbay Mineral's Llaguen Reserve Estimates), characterized by similar regolith grades concurring with alike geophysical signature (chargeability), the Company anticipates Luz Maria to likewise host shallow, high-grade mineralization over a meaningful strike length.
PERUVIAN ASSET - A Well Positioned Copper PROJECT on a Prolific Cu-Mo Metallogenic Belt
WMS has acquired mineral claims, rights and interests in a copper-molybdenum porphyry prospective project located in La Libertad, Peru; Caña Brava. This copper-based project lies on the Upper Cretaceous and Miocene (northern Peru-Ecuador) Cu-Mo porphyry belt, located near the coast with good accessibility surrounding current claims allowing for future project scalability.
This occurrence extends for at least 900 kilometres along the Western Cordillera and the adjacent high plateaus province, defined by a large number of hydrothermal mineral deposits of different types.
CAÑA BRAVA - La Libertad Province: Highly prospective copper-molybdenum project comprised of 4 exploration concessions across 2,600 hectares, plus 5 newly staked extensions of exploration concessions for 3,100 hectares. This project has evidence for historic copper-gold workings, from a cluster of at least 2 partially eroded porphyry centres (Luz Maria, Caña Brava 1), with a geological target in the order of a potential 500-1,000 Mt of above average grade mineralized rock.
Well located near Hudbay’s Llaguen Cu-Mo project, Cana Brava’s Luz Maria prospect has an alteration footprint comparable to other major projects of the Andes.
Luz Maria, on the SouthEast sector of the Caña Brava Project, is a well-preserved Cu-Mo porphyry target with multiple mineralized intrusion events and defined by a ~2.7 km by ~1.5 km potassic and phyllic alteration footprint, same age (Eocene) as some of the main porphyry deposits located in Southern Peru such as Constancia, Antapacay, Las Bambas, and Cotabambas, and comparable in size to other porphyry deposits such as Element 29’s Elida, the first Eocene porphyry discovered in Northern Peru, and Southern Copper’s Michiquillay Cu-Au-Mo deposit.
Caña Brava has received its Environmental Evaluation (FTA) approval for the Luz Maria prospect from the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines, fully granted permit to drill from 19 platforms as well as a water permit. WMS has launched a first drill program at its Luz Maria porphyry prospect, a total of 6 priority holes planned which target modelled magnetic bodies that are coincident with strong chargeability (>30mV/V) Induced Polarization Pole-Dipole as well as Cu and Mo geochemical anomalies.
A second porphyry target, Caña Brava 1, located on the NW sector of the Caña Brava Project, is a well-preserved ~1 km by ~1 km sized porphyry target characterized by a distinctive leached zone with goethite and hematite box works.
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53 rock chip samples confirmed grades up 0.4% Cu from both intrusive and Chicama Formation sedimentary rocks, and average 500 ppm Cu from intrusive rocks and 800 ppm from the Chicama Formation sediments.
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Diamond sawn channel sampling confirmed a result of 0.8 metres at 0.3% Cu from the intrusive rocks.
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Environmental permitting in progress to get the drilling permit for Caña Brava 1 in Q1-2025.
SPAIN ASSETS - SURROUNDED BY SIGNIFICANT DEPOSITS ON RICH METALLOGENIC BELTS KNOWN FOR GOLD AND POLYMETALLIC MINERALIZATION
WMS properties are strategically located in the “Navelgas Gold Belt” in a comparable geological environment to the El Valle-Boinas Carles gold mine and Salave project, which are significant gold deposits. The gold mineralization in the area typically occurs in high grade epithermal veins and breccias, skarns and as intrusive related gold deposits.
The four gold belts identified in Western Asturias and Galicia (NW Spain) are formed by multiple gold mineralizing events representing several styles of mineralization in a structurally complex, but favourable, terrain of Paleozoic carbonate and clastic host rocks.
WMS properties exhibit multi-million ounce gold potential and over 250K T Cu-Equiv. WMS properties are strategically located in mining-friendly jurisdictions, along geologically rich metallogenic belts known for gold and polymetallic mineralization.
The Nueva Celti Project, located in the Ossa Morena geological belt in the autonomous region of Andalusia, where former Cala and Agua Blanca mines are also located. The Nueva Celti Project was a producing mine with commercial grades of Cu reported, and comprises ~1,250 hectares.
The Sierra Alta Project, likewise located in Asturias, enclosed in the Navelgas Gold Belt, is encompassed in a 90 km long by 20 km wide mineralized corridor, totalling ~2,500 hectares.
The Penedela Gold Project is in the Ibias district, which is located at the southern edge of the Navelgas gold Belt. The Project comprises ~1,900 hectares (482 hectares granted to date) with ~750 metres of strike length.
The Valledor Gold Project, 9 km from Penedela, comprises ~3,500 hectares (*not yet granted), covering a 6 km long by 5 km wide area.
WMS initiated a 2 Phase; 3,000-metre diamond drilling program at Nueva Celti, in Q2-2023, the Company’s priority copper project in Spain due to initial drill hole results that demonstrate comparability to the vast amounts of regional and historical data, as well as high quality infrastructure on and adjacent to the property. Results of the first phase of drilling include 4.55 metres at 2.6% Cu in NCDD001, 26.05 metres at 1.5% Cu in NCDD002, 7.40 metres at 0.6% Cu in NCDD003, 1.65 metres at 1.7% Cu and 5.95 metres at 0.7% Cu in NCDD004. WMS has launched a first stage 500-metre, 2-hole, diamond drilling program at Sierra Alta.
NUEVA CELTI - COMPLETED 1,517 METER Drill PROGRAM to date; from a 2 Phase; 3,000-metre diamond drilling program launched Q1-2023