Canadian miner Vortex Metals has announced the commencement of phase two exploration activities at its Illapel copper-silver project in Chile.

The initiative expands upon findings from the initial phase, which identified low-resistivity sulphide mineralisation continuing north from the Rio 27 copper-silver mine along a prospective structural corridor.

The project is situated in the Commune of Illapel, Choapa Province, around 250km north of Santiago.

It lies adjacent to the Rio 27 mine operated by Ventana Group, which has been active since 2010.

Phase two will encompass the entire concession area of 180km² and involves an airborne geophysical survey spanning approximately 2,000 line kilometres.

The survey will utilise magnetics, very low frequency electromagnetics (VLF-EM) and radiometrics to identify favourable structures and potential mineralisation, thereby generating new drilling targets.

Discussions are in progress with a local geophysical contractor to finalise these plans.

Initial drilling at Illapel returned results that indicate the presence of a mineralised system and support further investigation.

Drilling has so far tested the north-north-east trend of high-grade, manto-style copper-silver mineralisation originating from the Rio 27 Mine.

Hole DVM-08 produced significant results, indicating a potentially expansive mineralised structure.

In addition to manto-style copper findings, iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) mineralisation was observed in several holes including DVM-08.

This mineralisation occurs within volcanic and sedimentary rocks similar to those found at the nearby El Espino deposit.

The initial phase included hydrothermal alteration and sulphide mineralisation such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite and bornite.

The comprehensive understanding of structural controls and their geophysical responses underpins this expanded scope of exploration within the concession area.

Vortex Metals co-founder and interim CEO Michael Williams said: “The phase one drill programme confirmed our geological model. The phase two programme will expand on the past programme by using the knowledge obtained on the structural controls and will be combined with the geophysical signatures obtained from the upcoming geophysics programme.

“We will then design a drill programme around the results. Having numerous copper surface expressions, multiple geophysical targets, indications of an IOCG target and gold-bearing vein systems, we believe Illapel has significant discovery potential.”

In March 2024, Vortex Metals’ ACAGOLD unit secured authorisation from the Santiago Astata Agrarian Community in Oaxaca, Mexico, to commence mineral exploration activities.