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Highlights

  • Massive resource upgrade: The Filo del Sol and Josemaría deposits together now represent one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold-silver resources globally.

  • Strategic partnership: Lundin Mining and BHP's 50/50 Vicuña joint venture aims to integrate two key projects into one mining complex.

  • Significant growth potential: Total measured and indicated resources have increased by 29%, with inferred resources surging more than sevenfold.

Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) has unveiled a significant resource update for the Filo del Sol project in Chile’s Atacama region, reaffirming the asset’s status as one of the world’s most substantial undeveloped copper, gold, and silver deposits. The update comes just months after Lundin and mining giant BHP (ASX:BHP) jointly acquired Filo Corp., the original owner of the asset, and launched a 50/50 partnership under the name Vicuña.

The newly released resource estimate marks the first time the deeper, high-grade sulphide zone at Filo del Sol has been formally incorporated. The measured and indicated resource now totals 606 million tonnes at a copper-equivalent grade of 1.14%, representing 4.5 million tonnes of copper, 9.6 million ounces of gold, and 259 million ounces of silver. Lundin also updated the oxide resource to 434 million tonnes at 0.34% copper, 0.28 g/t gold, and 2.5 g/t silver, further strengthening the project's viability. The previous 2023 technical report had already laid out a 13-year operation model based on this upper layer, forecasting average annual output of 66,000 tonnes of copper, 168,000 oz. of gold, and 9.26 million oz. of silver.

In parallel with the Filo del Sol update, the company also announced an updated resource for the nearby Josemaría project, located just 11 kilometres across the border in Argentina. Josemaría now hosts 196 million tonnes at 0.73% copper equivalent, containing 978,000 tonnes of copper, 2.4 million ounces of gold, and 11 million ounces of silver in the measured and indicated categories. Josemaría already has a feasibility study supporting a 19-year mine life with annual production projected at 136,000 tonnes of copper, 231,000 oz. of gold, and 1.16 million oz. of silver.

Together, the Filo del Sol and Josemaría deposits represent a resource base that Lundin Mining believes ranks among the highest-grade undeveloped open pit copper projects in the world and one of the largest global resources for gold and silver.

“This is one of the most significant greenfield discoveries in the last 30 years,” said Lundin Mining president and CEO Jack Lundin. “It sets the stage for a future mining complex of world-class scale and quality.”