Titan Minerals says it has confirmed copper-gold porphyry mineralisation from surface at its Copper Duke project in Ecuador and is now on the hunt for the type of “mega-porphyries” found in southern Peru.
Positive assay highlights from the company’s most recent trench and channel results at its El Huato and Lumapamba prospects include 20m at 0.9 grams per tonne gold and 0.21 per cent copper from surface at the former, including 4m grading 2.36g/t gold, 0.14 per cent copper and 4.8ppm silver from surface.
Lumapamba also recorded positive shallow results, with 20m going 0.72g/t gold and 0.1 per cent copper from surface, including 10m reading 1.2g/t gold and 0.13 per cent copper from 10m. The prospect returned the highest copper results, with a 14m hit grading 0.45g/t gold and 0.58 per cent copper from 4m.
The company says the extensive copper-gold porphyry mineralisation and well-developed stockwork veining seen in trenches has highlighted several high-priority target areas at Copper Duke. Recent dating work at the operation shows mineralisation is similar in age to the Cerro Verde-Santa Rosa porphyry deposits in Peru that Titan says contains about 17 million tonnes of copper.
We are now well positioned to test these exciting targets, and are in the final stages of drill design and organising all necessary logistics, including the construction of an onsite office, core logging and camp facilities at the project. The icing on the cake is confirmation of the mineralisation age at Copper Duke, indicating that we could be on top of a giant system, similar in age to the mega porphyries of southern Peru. Titan Minerals chief executive officer Melanie Leighton
Copper Duke covers 13 contiguous concessions totalling 130 square kilometres. The company says the operation is host to multiple porphyry intrusions associated with extensive copper-gold anomalism and quartz-hosted gold veining outcropping at surface. A geophysical survey completed in 2020 identified a corridor hosting several clusters of intrusive centres.
Titan says the exciting opportunity it has at Copper Duke is the fact that it is yet to be properly tested by drilling, with only four shallow holes ever probed at the site. It says all necessary permits are now in place for drill testing at El Huato and Lumapamba ,with the final drill campaign design stages now being finalised.
Copper Duke sits about 18km east of the company’s flagship Dynasty project, where Titan recently announced a maiden gold-silver resource of 43.54 million tonnes at 2.23g/t gold and 15.7g/t silver for a sizeable 3.12 million gold ounces and 21.98 million ounces of silver. Dynasty also contains a high-grade component of 17.3 million tonnes grading 3.77g/t gold and 24g/t silver for a contained 2.09 million gold ounces and 13.33 million ounces of silver using a cutoff grade of 2g/t gold.
With positive channel and trench results and a greater understanding of the operation’s geology, Titan will be looking to replicate the success it has seen at Dynasty when drilling officially kicks off at Copper Duke in coming months.
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