Valor Resources has mapped out five promising spectral anomalies at its Picha project, with trademark porphyry signatures indicating the explorer may be close to unearthing a porphyry-style deposit in its Peruvian precious metal hunt.
The company’s project lies a mere 17 kilometres from Chucapaca, Peru’s largest gold mine, that also includes silver and copper. The joint venture between South African mining giant Gold Fields Limited and Peru’s Buenaventura has had eight million ounces of gold equivalent defined.
A total of 74 rock samples were collected from the Cobremani, Maricate, Cumbre Coya and Fundicion targets at the Picha project during the 2021 field program and analysed using a hand-held TerraSpec-Halo mineral identifier.
Whilst most geologists pride themselves on their mineral identification prowess, the forces of nature can obscure the true nature of minerals. The TerraSpec Halo device assists with the identification of difficult-to-recognise minerals in rock specimens.
According to the company, spectral analysis of the 74 specimens highlighted five intriguing mineral anomalies, with three indicating proximity to porphyry and epithermal deposits.
Management says the three high-priority targets coincide with the Cobremani and Maricate targets and part of the Fundicion target. The other two spectral targets display mineral assemblages and characteristics suggesting hydrothermal activity that may hint at a shallow epithermal mineralised system.
Interestingly, four of the five spectral anomalies also coincide with surface copper geochemical anomalies.
Recent surface geochemical sampling by the company exposed a 41.6 metre long channel grading 1.12 per cent copper and 22.8 grams per tonne silver at its Cobremani prospect, a further 17.6m going 1.95 per cent copper and 29.55 g/t silver at the Maricate prospect and also unearthed a 32.85m vein grading at 0.61 per cent copper and a whopping 209.76 g/t silver at its Cumbre Coya prospect.
In addition, a recently-completed induced polarisation geophysical survey lit up a curious 2km circular anomaly at depth that correlates with surface mineralisation at the Cumbre Coya, Maricate and Cobremani target zones.
Valor says the 2022 field season has commenced at its Picha project ahead of a maiden drilling program slated for the September quarter.
Geological mapping has already come up trumps, identifying two new targets along a major regional structure. Interestingly, one of the targets has historical mine workings with visible copper mineralisation. Samples have been collected and sent off for analysis with results expected in April.
According to Valor, the drilling program will explore both the surface copper and silver mineralisation thought to be hosted in shallow strata-bound polymetallic veins and breccias at the Cobremani, Maricate and Cumbre Coya targets, along with plumbing the depths of the deeper potentially copper-sulphide mineralised porphyry system highlighted by the IP survey.
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By Matt Birney
