Filo Mining reports 61% increase in resource at Filo del Sol project

Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO of Filo Mining remarked: "Today's results confirm Filo del Sol as one of the best growth projects in South America. With less than 9,000 metres of new drilling we were able increase the resource by 61% and more importantly, define distinct gold oxide, copper-gold oxide, and silver zones that are amenable to heap leach processing. The tonnes and grades in the copper-gold oxide zone by itself are comparable to some of the larger copper leach operations in Northern Chile with the added benefit of significant precious metal resources in the gold and silver zones. The exploration upside at Filo is excellent and we are confident that this resource still has room to grow. These results are an important step toward our goal of building Filo Mining into a significant new gold, copper, and silver producer."

Filo has noted a significant Increase in the overall resource t and contained metals. Resource t increased by 61% to 372.9 million indicated t plus 238.9 million t Inferred. The deposit’s total gold estimate increased by 62% to 4.0 million ounces Indicated plus 2.5 million ounces Inferred. This is true for copper as well, with estimates increasing by 28% to 2.8 billion pounds Indicated plus 1.4 billion pounds Inferred. Total contained silver increased by 13% to 110 million ounces Indicated plus 60 million ounces Inferred.

Total resource has now been divided into four zones based on metallurgical characteristics. With metallurgical testwork completed, the data indicates that the oxide zones are amenable to heap leach processing and that the silver zone could either be leached or processed by flotation to produce a silver-rich concentrate. These three zones are underlain by a copper-gold sulfide zone (the fourth zone), which has not been tested metallurgically yet but based on the mineralogical characteristics is likely to be able to be processed by flotation to produce a concentrate.

So far there has been an excellent rate conversion of inferred t to indicated t, with 61% of the new resource indicated. The conversion rate is believed to be almost 98% of inferred to indicated. This pace is good, since the resource remains open for expansion in several directions. As of now only 3 km of an approximately 7 km long strike length has been drill tested at the Filo alteration zone. All holes drilled into the deposit, including the deepest holes (about 500 m deep) drilled into mineralisation, and indicate potential for porphyry copper and gold.

This new resource estimate updates and replaces the resource estimate released on November 23, 2015 and is based on a total of 36 200 m of primarily reverse circulation drilling including an additional 7500 m of reverse circulation drilling in 37 new holes from the drill program completed in March 2017. Most of the increase in the resource estimate comes from the Filo South zone which is included in the resource for the first time. Filo South is contiguous with the main Filo deposit. In addition, the oxide gold mineralisation at the Filo deposit was not broken out in the previous resource estimate, but drilling this past season has greatly expanded both the size and grade of this area to the point where it is now significant enough to report on its own.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/25082017/filo-mining-reports-61-increase-in-resource-at-filo-del-sol-project/