NGEx Minerals Ltd. has announced the successful completion of its Phase 3 drilling campaign at the Lunahuasi copper-gold-silver project in San Juan Province, Argentina, revealing exceptional high-grade mineralization and significantly expanding the known dimensions of the deposit.
The Phase 3 program, which began in October 2024 and concluded in early May 2025, completed over 25,000 meters of drilling across 24 holes. Due to early promising results, the company expanded the program from six to eight drilling rigs in February 2025.
Significant Expansion of Mineralized Volume
The drilling campaign has substantially extended the minimum dimensions of the mineralized volume at Lunahuasi to 1.2km north-south, 1.7km east-west, and 1.2km vertically, with the deposit remaining open in all directions. This represents a dramatic increase from the previous dimensions of 400 meters north-south, 900 meters east-west, and 960 meters vertically prior to Phase 3.
"Phase 3 drilling at Lunahuasi has rapidly expanded the minimum north-south, east-west and vertical distances of the mineralized volume to well over 1km," said Wojtek Wodzicki, President and CEO of NGEx Minerals. "This unique combination of high-grades and significant scale strongly emphasizes the potential exhibited by the vein hosted mineralization at Lunahuasi."
Exceptional Gold Grades
A particularly noteworthy aspect of the Phase 3 results has been the exceptional gold grades encountered throughout the high-grade vein hosted mineralization. Several drill holes intersected gold values comparable to world-class gold-only deposits, including:
- DPDH025 with 5.74m at 19.13 g/t Au
- DPDH028 with 8.20m at 39.11 g/t Au, within a broader interval of 51.10m at 9.70 g/t Au
- DPDH032 with 27.4m at 23.17 g/t Au
- DPDH033 with 1.10m at 151.5 g/t Au, within a broader interval of 10.1m at 19.32 g/t Au
- DPDH035 with 51.50m at 10.42 g/t Au, including 21.50m at 23.81 g/t Au
"The gold content at Lunahuasi continues to surprise to the upside," Wodzicki noted. "The emerging gold story at Lunahuasi is often overshadowed by copper grades, but the deposit's gold may prove to be a significant part of its future value proposition."
High-Grade Copper and Silver Mineralization
In addition to the impressive gold values, the drilling program continued to intersect high-grade copper and silver mineralization across considerable widths. Highlights include:
- DPDH028 which intersected 51.10m at 13.84% CuEq (5.98% Cu, 9.70 g/t Au, 90.4 g/t Ag)
- DPDH032 which intersected 27.40m at 25.19% CuEq (7.80% Cu, 23.17 g/t Au, 55.9 g/t Ag) including 8.60m at 15.80% Cu, 69.82 g/t Au and 127.4 g/t Ag
- DPDH035 which intersected 51.5m at 12.26% CuEq (including 10.42 g/t Au) including 21.50m at 23.81% CuEq (including 23.81 g/t Au)
Improved Geological Understanding
The Phase 3 program has also resulted in an improved understanding of the geological setting at Lunahuasi. The company has increased its confidence that the high-grade vein mineralization is correlated to, and controlled by, individual northeast trending, steeply dipping, structural corridors.
"This insight will be critical as the Company plans to focus future exploration on this high-value mineralization," the company stated in its release. The correlation of high-grade mineralization along these structural corridors represents a significant step change in the geological interpretation of Lunahuasi and will facilitate planning of future programs.
Multi-Scale Testing Approach
The Phase 3 program accomplished its main objectives of testing the Lunahuasi deposit at three target scales:
- Long-range exploration holes (+300m spacing) tested for significant extensions of mineralization to the north, south, and west
- Mid-range step out holes (50-300m spacing) explored for extensions of the mineralized zone in all directions and started to fill in large gaps in the drill pattern
- Short-range infill holes (30-50m spacing) tested the short-range variability of mineralized structures and high-grade zones and confirmed the main structural orientations
The program also included three geotechnical holes designed to support the company's analysis of a potential underground exploration adit at Lunahuasi.
Financial Position and Future Plans
As of March 31, 2025, NGEx reported a strong financial position with cash of $124.2 million, short-term investments of $45.6 million, and net working capital of $157.7 million. The company incurred a net loss of $35.1 million during Q1 2025, primarily due to $36.4 million in exploration and project investigation costs.
With the Phase 3 program now complete, demobilization of equipment and personnel from Lunahuasi is underway and expected to be completed before the arrival of winter weather conditions at the site. The company will focus on advancing the remaining Phase 3 samples through the assay laboratory, with approximately 53% of drill meters completed during Phase 3 having been reported to date.
During the second quarter of 2025, NGEx will begin compilation and analysis of the geological data collected during the Phase 3 campaign and refine the geological model at Lunahuasi. Planning for the next exploration program will also begin, with a Phase 4 start date anticipated around October 2025.
"Our cash position remains strong and focus has already turned to interpretation of all the data collected during this recent campaign and planning for a Phase 4 Lunahuasi program to begin in the latter half of the year," said Wodzicki. "We look forward to releasing the final assay results from Phase 3 over the coming months and providing an overview of our exciting Phase 4 plans for Lunahuasi in the third quarter."
About NGEx Minerals
NGEx Minerals is a copper and gold exploration company based in Canada, focused on exploration of the Lunahuasi copper-gold-silver project in San Juan Province, Argentina, and the nearby Los Helados copper-gold project located approximately nine kilometers northeast in Chile's Region III. Both projects are located within the Vicuña District, which includes the Caserones mine, and the Josemaria and Filo del Sol deposits.
NGEx owns 100% of Lunahuasi and is the majority partner and operator for the Los Helados project. The company's common shares are listed on the TSX under the symbol "NGEX" and also trade on the OTCQX under the symbol "NGXXF".
