Chile's Farellon Copper Mine Underground Mining Advances to Level 9

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 14, Canadian mining company Red Metal Resources announced progress on underground development and ore delivery at the Farellon copper-gold mine in Chile. Project operator Minera KMT has advanced the north adit operations from Level 7 to Level 9, completing approximately 115 meters of cumulative underground drift construction. From August to September, the ore delivered by the mine to the Vallenar processing plant under Chile's National Mining Company ENAMI completed final settlement, with a total settled dry ore quantity of 1,042.3 tonnes. The insoluble copper grade of September ore increased to 1.26% from 0.66% in August.

According to on-site construction records from October 8, the north adit at Level 7 has completed approximately 16.6 meters of drift advance, Level 8 has completed approximately 10 meters, and Level 9 has accumulated 73.6 meters of excavation, with the working position located approximately 110 meters below the surface. The south adit previously completed approximately 10 meters of development and has been suspended since July. Red Metal Resources conducts on-site technical personnel inspections in Chile every two weeks to check project progress; the above drift lengths and depths are on-site estimated data.

During on-site observations from late September to early October at the Level 9 drift face, chalcopyrite and localized bornite were identified, with mineralization primarily hosted in quartz vein and stockwork structures within dark gray iron oxide-rich host rock. Technical personnel collected 9 samples from the working face and run-of-mine stockpile and arranged for them to be sent to Laboratorio Químico San Lorenzo in Vallenar for analysis.

Ore delivery records show that Minera KMT delivered 16 batches of ore to ENAMI on August 20-21, with a wet weight of 597.6 tonnes and a dry weight of 582.2 tonnes; on September 15, 13 batches were delivered, with a wet weight of 471.3 tonnes and a dry weight of 460 tonnes. The September batch gold grade reached 0.31 g/t, higher than 0.19 g/t in August. The two months of settled ore contained a total of 9,603 kilograms of copper and 253 grams of gold, with copper content determined using ENAMI's insoluble copper testing protocol.

The total value of the two-month ore settlement determined by ENAMI is approximately US$75,750 (excluding Chilean VAT), of which August accounted for US$19,950 and September for US$55,800. Under the mining rights lease agreement signed in May 2026, Minera KMT is responsible for mining and ore sales, and Red Metal Resources holds a 10% net sales revenue royalty through its subsidiary Minera Polymet. After deducting the 1.5% royalty of the original mining rights transferor, the actual royalty rate is 8.5%. This settlement corresponds to approximately US$6,440 in royalty income for Red Metal Resources.

On October 8, Minera KMT transported approximately 300 tonnes of Level 9 run-of-mine ore to ENAMI's Vallenar processing plant via 14 truckloads. Since the lease agreement was signed in May, the project has carried out dewatering and rehabilitation of existing drifts and underground access development, and has added underground operating equipment to the mining area. The company expects to gradually increase ore production in the coming months.