Location
140 km southeast of the city of Copiapó, Chile on the Chile/Argentina Border
Area
~18 sq km alteration zone with near surface high grade Cu, Ag, Au
Indicated
3.2 B lb Cu; 4.6 M oz. Au; 160.4 M oz. Ag
Inferred
1.3 B lb Cu; 2.1 M oz. Au; 50.3 M oz. Ag
Project Description, Location and Access
The Filo del Sol Project is located in the San Juan Province of Argentina and the adjacent Atacama Region of Northern Chile, 140 kilometres southeast of the city of Copiapó, Chile and straddles the border between Argentina and Chile. The centre of the main deposit area is located at 28.49° S latitude and 69.66° W longitude.
Climate and Camp
The climate is cold and windy, typical of the high Andes.
Field work is based out of a camp located approximately 20 kilometres from the project in Argentina. The camp can accommodate approximately 1,000 people and is shared with the Josemaria Project. The site is remote and, other than road access, there is no infrastructure available.
Elevations on the property range from 4,500 to 5,400 metres above sea level. The mountains are generally not rugged and vehicle access is possible to most of the property. Vegetation is almost entirely absent in the area.
Geological Setting, Mineralization and Deposit Types
Filo del Sol is a high-sulphidation epithermal copper-gold-silver deposit associated with a large porphyry copper-gold system. It is located in the Andean Frontal Mountain Range within the Vicuña district, between the gold and copper-gold porphyry deposits of the Maricunga district to the north and the high-sulphidation epithermal deposits of the El Indio district to the south. Mineralization is hosted in Late Cretaceous clastic rocks, mafic dykes and sills, as well as in underlying rhyolitic volcanic rocks that are part of the Permo-Triassic basement.
Overlapping mineralizing events and a high degree of telescoping, combined with weathering effects including supergene enrichment, have created several different types and styles of mineralization. The uppermost part of the deposit includes structurally-controlled gold, tabular high-grade silver (± copper) and high-grade supergene-enriched copper all within a leached and oxidized domain that formed over high-sulphidation Cu-Au-Ag epithermal mineralization and disseminated porphyry Cu-Au mineralization. Within the hypogene domain, there are two distinct types of mineralization: porphyry Cu-Au mineralization in potassic alteration is overprinted and reconstituted by high-sulphidation epithermal Cu-Au-Ag mineralization associated with advanced argillic alteration. The boundary between the two types is sharp and well-defined geochemically.
The Filo del Sol mineral resource includes predominantly the upper, oxidized, and supergene-enriched portion of the overall deposit. In addition to the Filo del Sol deposit, several other exploration targets occur on the property.
Exploration
Filo, or its predecessor companies, have been exploring at Filo del Sol since 1999. Annual work programs have been completed most years, with a few exceptions. Historically, exploration has been limited to the summer season, typically between November and April, and exploration seasons are described by the years which they bridge. Beginning in 2021/22 field season, exploration activities were expanded to continue year-round. In addition to both reverse circulation and diamond drilling, surface work completed to date has included talus fine sampling, rock chip sampling, geological mapping and various geophysical surveys.
Filo del Sol PFS Highlights:
PFS Results (February 28, 2023) | |
Pre-Tax NPV (8%) & IRR | $2.04 billion NPV |
After-Tax NPV (8%) & IRR | $1.31 billion NPV |
Undiscounted After-Tax Cash Flow (LOM) | $3.56 billion |
Payback Period from start of processing (undiscounted, after-tax cash flow) | 3.4 Years |
Metals Prices Assumed | $3.65/lb Cu* |
Initial Capital Expenditures (rounded) | $1.81 billion |
LOM Sustaining Capital Expenditure (excluding closure) | $140 million |
LOM C-1 Cash Costs (Co-Product) | $1.54/lb CuEq. |
Nominal Process Capacity | 60,000 t/d ore |
Mine Life (including pre-stripping) | 13 years |
Average Annual Metal Production (rounded) | 66,000 t Cu |
LOM Average Process Recovery | 78% Cu |
Filo del Sol is a high-sulphidation epithermal copper-gold-silver deposit associated with a large porphyry copper-gold system. Overlapping mineralizing events combined with weathering effects, including supergene enrichment, have created several different styles of mineralization, including structurally-controlled gold, manto-style high-grade silver (+/- copper) and high-grade supergene-enriched copper within a broader envelope of disseminated sulphide copper and gold mineralization. It is located between the Maricunga gold porphyry zone to the north and the El Indio high-sulphidation zone to the south, both of Miocene age.
The Project displays a full transition between a high-sulphidation epithermal environment and a porphyry system, and both deposit types are represented.
The Filo del Sol project encompasses a very large alteration zone and several mineralized showings within a prolific mineral district. Both high-sulphidation epithermal gold-silver-copper and porphyry copper-gold mineralization have been discovered and both styles of mineralization are compelling exploration targets. Despite a long history of exploration, the large size of the hydrothermal systems result in a project that remains under-explored and warrants significant additional work. This is reinforced by the current mineral resource estimate which establishes an important copper-gold-silver deposit on the property and remains open in most directions.
The mineral resource estimate for the Filo del Sol deposit includes several different styles of mineralization, in terms of metal combinations and grade distribution, which occur as the result of a complex series of geological processes. Mineralization of potential economic interest within the deposit includes: high-grade leachable oxide/mixed copper mineralization; structurally controlled gold-silver mineralization; sub-horizontal "manto" high-grade silver mineralization and disseminated copper, gold and silver sulphide mineralization.
The resource remains open for expansion in several directions and at depth along the approximately 7.5 kilometre long strike length of the Filo alteration zone. All holes drilled into the deposit, including the deepest holes at over 1.8km long, end in mineralization and the potential for more porphyry copper-gold mineralization at depth and lateral to the known deposit is considered excellent.
In addition to the Aurora Zone, the property contains several other target areas defined by talus fine and rock sampling, geophysical surveys and geological mapping within a very large hydrothermal alteration system. These zones represent a multitude of exploration targets and additional work is ongoing to evaluate them.
Click here for the Filo del Sol Reserve and Resource Statements.