Atalaya makes positive progress at Proyecto Masa Valverde

The company entered into a definitive purchase agreement in October last year to acquire 100% of Proyecto Masa Valverde, which includes the Masa Valverde polymetallic deposit, the Majadales discovery and the unexplored Campanario-Descamisada area.

It described Masa Valverde as a large, single, undeveloped massive sulphide deposit 28 kilometres south of its 15 million tonnes per annum mill at Proyecto Riotinto, and six kilometres south from the Sotiel underground mine, owned by MATSA and recently acquired by Sandfire Resources.

The recent drilling campaign had intersected broad intervals of massive and stockwork type polymetallic sulphide mineralisation, the board said in its statement, including significant high grade intercepts at both Masa Valverde and Majadales.

Campanario-Descamisada, meanwhile, was described as a five kilometre-long north west trending mineralised corridor located 1.5 kilometres north east of Masa Valverde and Majadales, and defined by numerous small, old workings with gold-rich gossans and occasionally relicts of massive sulphides.

Limited historical drilling returned promising results at shallow depths, including 8.25 metres at 1.27% copper from 86.25 metres depth.

Looking ahead, Atalaya said drilling would continue beyond the initial 8,000 metres planned for the campaign, with two rigs, and an aim to gain confidence in the resource estimate and obtain samples for metallurgical testing.

It would also seek to define the extensions of known mineralisation at both the Masa Valverde and Majadales deposits, test the main geophysical anomalies generated during the recently completed FLEM survey, and determine the ultimate exploration potential of the promising new area named Campanario-Descamisada target zone.

Current and new drilling data would be incorporated into the NI 43-101 compliant report for Proyecto Masa Valverde, which was currently being prepared by CSA Global and expected by early in the first quarter of 2022.

“These excellent drilling results from both Masa Valverde and Majadales confirm our belief that the historical resource at Masa Valverde, which excluded Majadales, can be improved and also expanded,” said chief executive officer Alberto Lavandeira.

“The definition of higher grade copper and zinc zones inside the larger mineralised intervals will be one of the keys for moving this project to production,” said chief executive officer Alberto Lavandeira.

“Based on these encouraging results we have decided to extend the 8,000 metre drilling program initially planned for this campaign to include the first systematic drilling program at the promising Campanario-Descamisada target zone.

“We believe that Proyecto Masa Valverde is an important growth project for Atalaya and has the potential to become a source of high grade ore to supplement mill feed at Proyecto Riotinto, which continues to operate above nameplate capacity.”