en.Wedoany.com Reported - Canadian exploration company Fitzroy Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: FTZ, OTCQB: FTZFF) announced on April 16, 2026, the results of pre-feasibility stage drilling and metallurgical testing at its Buen Retiro copper project near Copiapó, Chile. Drill hole BRT-DDH049 intersected 83.0 meters grading 0.57% copper from a depth of 95.0 meters, including a section of 43.0 meters grading 0.90% copper.
Fitzroy Minerals is a Canadian exploration company focused on copper assets in the Americas. In addition to the Buen Retiro project in Chile, it holds the Caballos copper project and the Polimet gold-copper-silver project in Valparaíso, Chile, the Taquetren gold project in Río Negro, Argentina, and the Caribou project in British Columbia, Canada. These drilling results are from resource definition drilling in the southwestern area of the Buen Retiro project. Another drill hole, BRT-DDH048, intersected 92.5 meters grading 0.53% copper from 3.5 meters, including 46.0 meters grading 0.82% copper from 36.0 meters. The company stated that many samples exceeded the 1% copper upper limit of the laboratory's "exploration" assay method and require re-assaying using the "ore grade" method.
SGS laboratory has commenced metallurgical test work on a representative 2,900-kilogram sample. Data processing and interpretation are ongoing for a passive seismic ambient noise tomography geophysical survey conducted by Fleet Space Technologies over a 5 km x 5 km area. The company is using two drill rigs for definition drilling for the initial mineral resource estimate. Thirty-two new diamond drill holes (totaling 5,143 meters) have been completed in the southwestern area, with assay results pending. The goal is to delineate sufficient resources in the Measured and Indicated categories according to National Instrument 43-101 standards to support a mine plan for a heap leach operation.
Merlin Marr-Johnson, President and CEO of Fitzroy Minerals, stated that resource definition drilling is progressing rapidly, with many samples from the southwestern area exceeding the 1% copper limit, indicating significant copper within the system. He noted that the ambient noise tomography survey is an important step in the search for a major sulfide discovery at Buen Retiro. The company's goal is to use potential future cash flow from a heap leach copper operation to fund ongoing exploration for a major copper deposit in Chile.
London Metal Exchange copper prices rose 1.8% to $13,284.50 per tonne. The company's investor presentation shows that the Buen Retiro project plans to conduct infill drilling, metallurgical testing, and mineral resource estimation throughout 2026, with a preliminary pre-feasibility study expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027. The company has a market capitalization of approximately C$152 million, with 328 million shares outstanding. Management and insiders hold 11% of the shares.
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