Solaris Resources (TSX:SLS) Continues Its Expansion in Ecuador With Brand New Discovery

Solaris Resources (TSX:SLS) has recently made a significant new discovery within its Warintza project in southeastern Ecuador. This is a major breakthrough in their expansive drilling program and is likely to help grow the company’s presence in the region.

As the value of copper continues to rise in today’s current market, this Warintza project keeps getting larger with each set of drill results, with grades starting at or near-surface lending itself to establishing a robust mine plan with elevated grades benefitting the early years of mine life. Copper supplies have declined in recent years, boosting the demand and value of the mineral. The global manufacturing industry also has a growing need for copper, making copper drilling operations all the more valuable.

Solaris Resources has been a massive player in the South American region for some time now, with major projects in Ecuador, Chile, Peru, and Mexico. Their flagship Warintza copper mining project in the Cordillera del Condor Mountain region of Ecuador is its most promising venture yet. The area is largely rural and surrounded by an inland mountain range near Ecuador's border with Peru. The area, in general, is ripe with copper reserves, and the Mirador mine, the first copper-producing mine in Ecuador, sits about 40 km south of Warintza.

The initial discovery of Warintza occurred almost 20 years ago based on minimal historical drilling to 200m by the legendary mine explorer, the late David Lowell. Lowell discovered more than 17 mineral deposits in his life and, including the greatest of all time, La Escondida. Lowell completed a small, shallow drilling campaign around the discovery outcrop at Warintza Central, which formed the basis for an in-pit inferred resource estimate totaling 124Mt grading 0.70% CuEq. The resource is open laterally and at depth and is set within a 7km x 5km cluster of copper porphyries.

Solaris is completing a resource expansion drilling campaign at Warintza Central to expand upon the drilling of David Lowell and issue an updated mineral resource estimate in Q4 2021. Drilling results have already demonstrated multiple times resource expansion beyond the historical drilling. In addition to this, Solaris is completing discovery drilling on the other well-defined targets within the 35-square-kilometer area comprised of Warintza West, Warintza East, Warintza South and Yawi. The Company made a discovery at Warintza West in February and just announced its latest discovery at Warintza East. The footprint of Warintza keeps increasing with each hole returning long intervals of economic copper mineralization. Warintza South and Yawi are next up on the list of discovery drilling.

First Results Are In

The first hole drilled at Warintza East, SLSE-01, was drilled roughly 1,300m east of Warinzta Central, where recent eastern extension drilling intersected 1,000m of 0.60% CuEq from surface. The initial hole at East was drilled to a total depth of 1,213m with assays reported for the first 320m of core returning 0.46% of CuEq from surface, including 54 metres of 0.70% CuEq.

The results for the balance of the hole are expected in a few weeks. Warintza East is defined by coincident overlapping copper and molybdenum soil anomalies, measuring approximately 1,200m in strike, and a high-conductivity geophysical anomaly that extends from Warintza East through Warintza Central.

In the upcoming weeks, the company plans to focus on resource expansion drilling at Warintza Central, as well as further discovery drilling on this well-endowed property. Solaris’ VP Exploration, Jorge Fierro, commented on the drilling campaign: “The discovery at Warintza East marks the third major copper discovery within the voluminous 7km x 5km Warintza porphyry cluster. Importantly, the footprint of Warintza East overlaps conceptual pit designs for Warintza Central, which itself continues to grow eastward with recent results. Future drilling will focus on the open, undrilled area between these two zones.”

Field crews are also currently sampling the Yawi region for future drill testing. As weather conditions continue to improve in the region, Solaris is really speeding up the drilling process with ten rigs in operation, increasing to 12 rigs. Maiden drilling results are expected from Warintza South, Yawi, and other regional targets in the second half of 2021.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes