TSX-listed NGEx Minerals on Wednesday announced a new discovery at its Lunahuasi project, in San Juan, Argentina, confirming the presence of a major copper/gold porphyry system beneath high-grade high-sulphidation (HS) epithermal mineralisation.

The company’s share price soared 15% to C$14.12 a share on the news.

Drillhole DPDH027 intersected 1 619.4 m grading 0.87% copper equivalent (CuEq) from a depth of 385.6 m, including 876.4 m at 1.13% CuEq within disseminated, stockwork and lode-style HS mineralisation. This included a particularly high-grade interval of 205.05 m at 2.04% CuEq from 590.65 m. The hole entered porphyry-style mineralisation at 1 262 m and continued in mineralisation to the end of the hole at 2 005 m, returning 743 m at 0.56% CuEq, including higher-grade sections of 18 m at 2.68% CuEq and 17.8 m at 1.23% CuEq.

A second hole, DPDH029, drilled 500 m to the south, intersected 823.1 m at 1.17% CuEq from 776.9 m depth. It included high-grade intervals such as 157.7 m at 2.18% CuEq from the start of mineralisation, 38.9 m at 4.35% CuEq from 870.7 m, and 153.5 m at 1.98% CuEq from 1 207.5 m, with a standout intercept of 9 m at 7.33% CuEq from 1 352 m.

“Drillhole DPDH027 opens up an entirely new dimension of the Lunahuasi project,” said NGEx president and CEO Wojtek Wodzicki. “The possible presence of a large copper/gold porphyry system associated with the high-grade vein-hosted HS mineralisation has been a part of our geological interpretation from the beginning, and we have now confirmed that we were on the right track.”

He said the confirmation of a porphyry system significantly increased the long-term value of Lunahuasi. The HS system itself continued to grow, with DPDH029 extending mineralisation by over 400 m south of DPDH027, bringing the north-south extent of the key high-grade zone to more than 1 100 m, which remained open in all directions.

The Lunahuasi project forms part of the Vicuña copper/gold district, a region known for hosting several large porphyry and epithermal deposits in the Andes.