By Mo Shine
NGEx Minerals reported one of the strongest drill intersections yet from its Lunahuasi copper-gold-silver project in Argentina, returning 57.75 metres grading 9.41% copper equivalent (CuEq) and extending the high-grade core of the emerging Vicuña district.
The result from hole DPDH077 included 19 metres at 25.84% CuEq, within which an 8-metre interval assayed 37.38% CuEq, according to the company’s latest exploration update. The intercept was drilled in the Jupiter zone, one of several mineralized areas identified at Lunahuasi.
The results add to a series of broad and high-grade intersections from the project as NGEx works toward underground exploration. The company has received environmental approval for an exploration adit and is targeting the start of underground development in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to remaining permits.
Lunahuasi is located in San Juan province, near the Argentina-Chile border, within the Vicuña district, a mineral corridor that also includes Lundin Mining’s Josemaria and Los Helados projects, as well as the Filo del Sol system. The district has become central to Argentina’s ambitions to rebuild a large-scale copper industry.
High-grade interval strengthens the Jupiter zone
NGEx’s DPDH077 result combines unusually high grades with a meaningful intersection width.
The main interval began at 310.25 metres downhole and averaged 6.51% copper, 2.50 grams per tonne gold and 121.8 grams per tonne silver, according to the company. The 19-metre higher-grade section averaged 18.84% copper, 5.54 grams per tonne gold and 336.7 grams per tonne silver.
Copper-equivalent grades combine the value of copper, gold and silver into a single measure. They are useful for comparing polymetallic intersections, but they depend on metal prices, recoveries and other assumptions. They should not be read as a direct measure of future payable production.
NGEx said the latest drilling supports the grade and scale potential of the Jupiter zone across an area measuring approximately 400 metres by 500 metres. The company has described Lunahuasi as a large mineralized system that remains open in several directions.
Andean terrain and field infrastructure typical of high-altitude mineral exploration.
Other holes reported in the same update show that the high-grade structures are accompanied by broader mineralized envelopes.
Selected Lunahuasi drill results
| Drill hole | Reported interval | Grade | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| DPDH077 | 57.75 metres | 9.41% CuEq | Includes 19 metres at 25.84% CuEq and 8 metres at 37.38% CuEq |
| DPDH071 | 573.4 metres | 2.17% CuEq | Broad mineralized intersection |
| DPDH072 | 207 metres | 2.37% CuEq | Includes 3.5 metres at 30.49% CuEq |
| DPDH072 | 3.5 metres | 30.49% CuEq | High-grade interval within the broader intersection |
The company’s release also reported additional high-grade sections from DPDH072, including 11.5 metres at 8.95% CuEq. That hole was drilled in the Saturn zone, where drilling has identified both broad disseminated mineralization and narrower, higher-grade structures.
The contrast between the broad intervals and the narrow high-grade zones is important for future mine planning. A large mineralized envelope could support bulk underground or open-pit concepts, while persistent high-grade structures may offer opportunities for selective underground mining if continuity, ground conditions and metallurgy support that approach.
Those factors have not yet been established.
Underground development is the next test
NGEx’s planned exploration adit is intended to provide underground access for additional drilling and geological work. Underground development could allow the company to test the geometry of the high-grade structures more directly than surface drilling alone.
At Lunahuasi, mineralization is associated with structurally controlled veins and broader copper-gold porphyry-style alteration. The company’s project description identifies several mineralization styles, including high-sulphidation copper-gold-silver veins and deeper porphyry-related mineralization.
An adit could help test:
- Whether high-grade veins remain continuous between drill holes.
- The true thickness and orientation of the mineralized structures.
- Ground conditions and rock-mass behavior.
- The relationship between high-grade veins and broader disseminated mineralization.
- Metallurgical variability across different mineralization zones.
NGEx said underground development is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026, but the timetable remains subject to remaining permits. Environmental approval for the exploration adit is not equivalent to approval to construct or operate a commercial mine.
The latest drill results also do not establish a mineral reserve. Further drilling, geological modeling, engineering studies, metallurgical testing and economic analysis would be required before any reserve could be declared.
Underground drilling provides direct access to mineralized structures and ground conditions.
Vicuña district gives the results wider significance
The significance of the Lunahuasi results extends beyond NGEx’s property boundary.
The Vicuña district has emerged as one of the most closely watched copper regions in the Andes. Josemaria and Filo del Sol are being advanced by a joint venture between BHP and Lundin Mining, while NGEx controls Lunahuasi and Los Helados.
The projects sit in a region with established mining access routes and a long history of copper, gold and silver exploration. NGEx says Lunahuasi is approximately 10 kilometres south of Los Helados and lies within a broader north-south mineralized corridor that extends across northwestern San Juan province.
Argentina is seeking to attract large-scale mining investment as it attempts to expand exports and diversify its economy. Copper has become a priority because of its role in electricity networks, renewable power systems, electric vehicles and data-center infrastructure.
That policy backdrop has increased the importance of new discoveries. Existing large copper operations in South America face declining grades, water constraints, permitting delays and rising development costs. New projects are therefore being assessed not only for their resource potential but also for infrastructure, jurisdictional, environmental and social risks.
For investors and operators tracking copper mining news 2026, Vicuña is increasingly relevant because several projects are moving through different stages at the same time. Josemaria and Filo del Sol are closer to development, while Lunahuasi remains in the exploration and evaluation phase.
Grade will need to be matched by continuity and recovery
The latest results are notable, but high-grade exploration results can overstate a project’s eventual mine performance if they are isolated or difficult to extract.
The 8-metre interval at 37.38% CuEq is particularly strong, but the key question is how frequently similar structures occur and whether they can be mined selectively at sufficient scale. Underground mining may reduce dilution in narrow high-grade zones, but it can also increase development requirements, operating complexity and exposure to ground conditions.
Metallurgical testing will be equally important. Lunahuasi contains copper, gold and silver in several mineralization styles. Recovery rates may differ between disseminated mineralization, massive sulphide veins and porphyry-related material.
The company’s copper-equivalent calculations use assumed metal prices and recoveries. Actual project economics would depend on recoveries established through test work, concentrate quality, treatment and refining charges, capital costs, operating costs, royalties, taxes and permitting conditions.
Drill core logging helps define mineralization, structure and metallurgical variability.
These issues will shape the project’s relevance to the copper price forecast 2026. Elevated copper prices can improve the apparent economics of a deposit, but they do not remove the technical and regulatory work needed to convert exploration success into a development decision.
Gold and silver credits may also be important. The high-grade intervals reported by NGEx contain significant precious-metal values, which could help support project economics if recoveries are robust. That gives the project relevance to broader gold mining news 2026, although Lunahuasi remains primarily a copper-gold-silver exploration story rather than a defined gold development project.
What comes next
NGEx is expected to use further drilling and the planned exploration adit to test the continuity of the Jupiter and Saturn zones. Additional work will also be needed to understand the deeper porphyry system and the relationship between the district’s separate mineralized centers.
The company’s immediate milestones include:
- Completing remaining permits for underground exploration.
- Advancing the exploration adit toward the targeted fourth-quarter start.
- Continuing surface and underground drilling.
- Defining the geometry and continuity of high-grade structures.
- Conducting metallurgical and geotechnical studies.
- Evaluating whether the mineralized system can support a future resource estimate and economic study.
For now, DPDH077 provides a high-grade anchor for Lunahuasi’s exploration case. The broader results from DPDH071 and DPDH072 indicate that the high-grade structures occur within sizeable mineralized intervals, but the project still needs to demonstrate continuity, mineability and economic recoveries.
NGEx’s latest update therefore strengthens the geological case for Lunahuasi while leaving the central development questions unresolved. In the Vicuña district, where Argentina’s copper ambitions are bringing major capital and permitting attention to the Andes, those next steps will determine whether a striking exploration result can become part of a commercial mining plan.
Read NGEx Minerals’ Lunahuasi project overview
Read the company’s latest Lunahuasi exploration update