Los Andes Copper acquired a portion of the Vizcachitas project in 2007 and commenced exploration work. In 2010 the Company consolidated 100% ownership of the Project and began work on developing a new geological model following developments in the understanding of porphyry deposits in the Central Belt of Chile. Drilling campaigns in 2015 and 2017 confirmed the new geological model, expanded the mineralization and demonstrated the potential for further upside. This was all integrated into the June 2019 PEA demonstrating that Vizcachitas is a robust tier 1 copper project.
Following the successful PEA, the decision to progress with a Pre Feasibility Study(“PFS”) was made. The PFS was announced in February 2023 and demonstrated a sustainable, tier 1, economically robust project with the potential for further growth.
As part of the PFS the Company published their maiden Proven and Probable Reserve Statement of 1.21 billion tonnes at 0.36% copper, 136ppm molybdenum, 1.1g/t silver which equates to a copper equivalent (“CuEq”) grade of 0.41%. The existing resource statement was also updated to take into account the drilling completed in 2021 and 2022. This saw a 16% increase in the Measured &Indicated Resource to 14.801 billion lbs CuEq and a 130% increase in the Inferred Resource to 15.44 billion lbs CuEq.
As part of the PFS a number of changes were made including the adoption of HPGR technology which reduced energy consumption by 25% vs a SAG circuit which was previously considered in the PEA. The use of dry-stacked tailings was adopted which reduced water consumption by approximately 50% and the Project’s footprint by 500 hectares and is now designed be situated in one valley.
The Project has also been designed to use desalinated water removing any concerns over the use of continental water in an area impacted by drought.
