Norfolk Metals to start maiden drilling at Carmen copper project

Norfolk Metals is advancing towards maiden drilling at its potentially low-cost Carmen copper development project in Chile.

The company is also examining heap leaching options at the project which could accelerate low-cost development options. Pic: Getty Images.

Special Report: Norfolk Metals is rapidly advancing towards the start line for the maiden drilling campaign at its Carmen copper project in Chile.

• NFL advancing towards maiden drilling program at Carmen copper project
• Drilling to hunt for resource extensions in the prolific San Felix Fault and Fold belt
• Company will also complete metallurgical testwork to narrow down processing options

The Carmen project sits within the prospective Pre-Cordillera of Chile within the regionally extensive north-trending San Felix Fault and Fold System. 

This belt hosts numerous copper, gold and silver deposits in IOCG, Manto Cu, porphyry and epithermal systems, including Relincho and Fortuna (El Morro) with proven and probable mineral reserves.

Drilling to extend mineralisation and test more targets

The permitting process is underway and is expected to be granted in early Q3 2025. After which, the 5100m RC and diamond drilling campaign will begin.

Norfolk Metals (ASX:NFL) says around 3500m of the drilling will focus on validating and extending the mineralisation defined in the foreign mineral resource estimate of 5.6Mt at 0.6% copper, within the known Carmen Oxide Zone, which remains open in all directions.

An additional 1,600m is planned to test targets along strike on the Carmen-Tabaco western structural trend and drill samples will be submitted for copper analysis together with select historical core samples to also be analysed for gold.

If any resource extensions are found, this could mean additional ore tonnage of near surface leachable copper in oxide and/or supergene enriched zones at Carmen Main.

Watch: Red hot copper in Chile

Low-cost, high-margin copper operation

Norfolk is aiming to establish the Carmen project as a low-cost, high-margin, value-accretive copper heap leaching operation producing copper cathode at the mine gate. 

The company is confident that several characteristics of the project lend themselves to a cost-effective heap-leaching project if a sufficient resource base is established, not least of which is a probable low strip ratio due to the extensive oxide mineralisation seen from surface. 

Metallurgical test work is planned to assess the ore’s suitability to proven heap leaching techniques – which could suggest a cost-effective development pathway for the project. 

“The rapid progress made toward the maiden drill campaign at Carmen is assuring for our shareholders and it will see substantial drilling and confirmatory metallurgical test work conducted in the near term bolstering further confidence in the project,” NFL executive chairman Ben Phillips said.

“Additional surface soil sampling and trenching coupled to geophysics will also be considered for 2025. 

“We are driving towards a highly successful drilling campaign which will also tie into metallurgical test work as we work towards our vision of building a JORC compliant copper oxide resource of sufficient magnitude to support a low-cost, high-margin copper heap leaching operation.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Norfolk Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Norfolk Metals to start maiden drilling at Carmen copper project