We had to wait for quite a while for Element 29 Resources (ECU.V) to release assay results from its Elida drill program, but patience was rewarded as the recently released drill results contained some phenomenal intervals. As you may remember, in our previous update on Element 29 we mentioned the key element would be to build tonnage in order to reach the critical mass that’s required to develop a porphyry copper asset. The location (low Andes), lack of arsenic and low strip ratio (as per the 2022 resource estimate) are all positive characteristics of this project.
The current resource contains 322 million tonnes of rock at 0.32% copper, 0.029% molybdenum and 2.61 g/t silver, and the 2025 Elida drill program was designed to further expand the resource beyond the current pit shells to depths exceeding 1,000 meters.
And yes, the drill bit delivered. The headline result was delivered by hole ELID037 at Elida, which intersected 1,489 meters (that’s just under 1.5 kilometers) of continuous mineralization with 0.44% copper, 0.04% molybdenum and 4.09 g/t silver for a copper-equivalent grade of 0.58%.
Not only is this an excellent interval which clearly demonstrates the continuity of the mineralization, it’s also important that 1) the mineralization starts close to surface at just 63 meters down-hole and 2) the hole actually ended in mineralization, at a depth of 1552 meters. This means Element 29 Resources still hasn’t found out how deep the mineralization extends.
It’s natural the other holes could not replicate this very strong result, but with the other holes returning 667 meters of 0.38% copper-equivalent and 602 meters of 0.40% copper-equivalent in holes 38 and 39, it is clear that Element 29 Resources was successful in ‘building tonnage’. Metallurgical test work (is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year, and the data from that program, in combination with all the assay results from the 2026 drill program, will end up in an updated resource calculation at Elida.
That will be an important step forward to reach the critical mass required to consider developing this low-Andes based copper project. We will catch up with CEO Richard Osmond and provide a more extensive update soon.
Disclosure: The author has a long position in Element 29 Resources. Element 29 is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.
