Fortuna Valle is a District-Scale Copper-Gold Project located in the Prolific Coquimbo Region of Northern Chile.
Previous exploration includes geological mapping, geochemical sampling, trenching, ground magnetics and diamond drilling.
The Fortuna Valle Copper-Gold Project (Fortuna) is a district-scale copper gold project located in northern Chile, within the highly prospective Coastal Cordillera metallogenic belt in the Coquimbo Region between La Serena approximately 50km to the south and Huasco approximately 150km to the north.
Fortuna Valle Copper-Gold Project – Regional Setting
The Coastal Cordillera Mineral belt represents one of the most prolific metallogenic provinces in Chile. The region hosts a diverse range of mineral systems including IOCG, iron oxide-apatite (IOA), manto copper deposits, porphyry copper-gold systems, epithermal gold-silver deposits and structurally controlled copper-gold systems. A defining geological feature of the belt is the Atacama Fault System (AFS), a crustal-scale structure that has exerted fundamental control on magmatism, hydrothermal fluid flow and ore deposition throughout the Mesozoic and Cenozoic.
The broader region contains several significant mineral deposits and mining operations, including the Carmen de Andacollo copper-gold mine, one of Chile’s established copper producers.
Fortuna Valle Copper-Gold Project – Local Setting
Fortuna hosts a large hydrothermal alteration and mineralised system prospective for porphyry copper-gold and related intrusion-hosted mineralisation styles. Historical exploration identified multiple zones of copper-gold mineralisation associated with intrusive rocks, sheeted vein systems and hydrothermal alteration. Mineralisation potential as defined by rock chip sampling occurs over 10km across strike and 7km along strike and these dimensions remain open.
Within this zone is a set of priority targets measuring circa 7km x 5km for approximately 20km2 containing precious drilling and a suit of ~290 Rock Chips with an average grade of 1.38% CuEq using a 0.1%CuEq Cut-off.
Fortuna Valle Copper-Gold Project – Priority Targets and Drill Hole Locations
Modern exploration for gold commenced in the early 1990s when the Venero Negro and Piojo shafts, tunnels and workings were sampled by Freeport geologists (including samples of metallurgical testing). This work was conducted from1992-1994.
Gold contents in crosscuts at the bottom of shafts in the historic Venero Negro and Piojo mines that were 25m and 60m deep respectively, returned average grades of 3-4g/t Au. An additional 5 samples from Venero Negro returned average grades of 0.11% Cu and 0.46g/t Au, and 13 samples from Piojo returned average grades of 0.96% Cu and 1.48g/t Au.
Several explorers have since conducted exploration activities but exploration has been fragmented and focused on small, isolated targets rather than the property as a whole, targeting a larger scale system.
Fortuna Valle Copper-Gold Project – CX 6737050N
At the San Miguel target a scout exploration diamond drilling program was completed between December 2018 and February 2019. The drilling comprised four drillholes (SLD001-004) for a total of 1,217.8m. Cross section CX 6737050N for the three northern most holes shows two zones of Cu-Au mineralisation which are open along strike and at depth. Grades of the mineralised zones average around 0.4% Cu and 0.4g/t Au over downhole width of plus 20m.
Previous exploration has confirmed the presence of widespread copper-gold mineralisation, extensive hydrothermal alteration and multiple mineralised centres. Notwithstanding this work, only a limited portion of the project’s extensive concession package has been explored with even less drill tested, highlighting the opportunity for systematic modern exploration to further evaluate the broader potential of the Fortuna Valle Project.
Working with a consolidated package Flagship is positioned to leverage off this historical work.
